Baby, It’s Cold Inside
by Charlie Geer
Summers in Andalucía tend to be hotter than the winters are cold, and for centuries local building practices have reflected that fact. The white limestone façades and spacious central patios, the stone floors and shady alleyways — in August, a resident appreciates this kind of thing. The problem is February. Winter in Andalucía can turn quite cold, and when it does, flaws in the built-for-summer design reveal themselves, especially to those of us whose flats have not been retrofitted with central air. On the one hand, it’s true that in winter we don’t have to remember to put the milk back in the fridge, or chill champagne ahead of a celebration. And the spectacle of steam-breath in a living room is kind of amazing. On the other hand, it’s usually mighty fucking cold inside.
Thankfully there is a form of relief: the brasero. Found wherever Andalusians may gather indoors, the brasero is a disk-shaped space heater situated under a central round table. Way back when, hot coals supplied the brasero’s heat; today, hot coils do; but the manner of insulating the heat hasn’t changed: a pleated circular blanket known as an enaguas, or “petticoat,” is draped over the table, making an oven — and lending the whole arrangement the look of an enormous decapitated Pac-Man ghost.
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