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Information exchange for people visiting the city of Granada => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: Doss on July 04, 2010, 05:17:44 PM


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Title: Biting insects at night
Post by: Doss on July 04, 2010, 05:17:44 PM
Since the hot weather has started I am being bitten by mosquitos or something during the night.
I am being driven crazy.
What can I do?
Title: Re: Biting insects at night
Post by: granadaexpert on July 04, 2010, 05:56:17 PM
In Spain between mid June and mid September you will need to protect yourself from mosquitos at night.

Just go to any supermarket and buy yourself an anti-mosquito machine.

The most old fashioned are a small heater which you plug in and you change the pastille every night.

The more modern ones have  some sort of insecticide tank and you can leave them plugged in for up to 45 nights.

That will solve your problem immediately.

If you have a place in your home where you sit out in the evenings such as a teraza or patio you may need an anti mosquito spiral.

They are green spirals and you light them. They slowly burn down emitting an insecticide smoke.

The smoke is slightly unpleasant but it is much better than being bitten. 

To avoid the smoke you can put then on the floor rather than the table.

In my own house I don't use the spirals. I rigged up an electric socket below the table and use an electric anti-mosquito machine. I have a plastic table cloth which hangs down low and forms a good anti mosquito area for everyone's legs. Also, I normally wear long baggy trousers in the evenings which make it more difficult for the mosquitos.

The only place where it is difficult to protect yourself from mosquitos is if you eat outside in the evening at a restaurant.

Really the restaurant itself should do something to protect you but this is not that normal, especially in a village.

The best thing to do in this case is to spray yourself with an insect repellent.

Insect repellent is probably the least effective method and if you are in your own home you should always use a machine.

If you do get bitten by a mosquito never scratch it.

If you are reading this because you  have been woken up by mosquitos and all the shops are closed then look for some garlic in the kitchen.

Smear some garlic on your skin because it repels the mosquitos.

An aspirin or other painkiller may help the itch and let you get back to sleep.

Germolene or TCP are very good on insect bites because they have a local anesthetic.  These are UK products and are not available in Spain.

How do mosquitos find you?

The air that you breathe out has a slightly higher concentration of carbon dioxide than the surrounding air. Mosquitos have a very sensitive way of measuring the carbon dioxide in the air and find you by finding your breath.

If you are really unlucky you may find that the mosquito bites cause a swelling, the area may become hot and feels hard. This is probably because you are reacting to something from the mosquito. It should get better in 2 or 3 days. Keep it clean and never scratch it.  If the problem persists, go to a farmacia and get ask them to look at it. They will normally give you a cream.

Note: Mosquitos don't normally give you a series of bites in a straight line. If you do have a line of bites it is more likely you have a flea or a bedbug.