There's always been Saharan dust in the air above us on the coast, but not like March this year, which has lead many to rush and repaint facades.

Well, a boffin at the University of Granada reckons that’s a bad idea. No, Professor Jesús Párraga, who is the Head of the Edaphology & Agricultural Chemistry Department, recommends that you hold your hooves.

Anyway, what the hell is Edaphology? Well, according to my good friend, Wikipedia, it is the study of the influence of soils on living things, particularly plants.

Back to Jésus, “I wouldn’t recommend painting exterior walls because dust from the Sahara will continue to arrive and if there is a low-pressure area in the Bay of Cádiz, we will have more episodes of the same.”

He recommends, instead, waiting a couple of months to see how things go because by summer such meterological conditions are far less likely; hence, wait until the end of May or June before you repaint your seriously camouflaged facade.

Although red rain is not uncommon, the sheer amount of dust that came down was unheard of;  measurements taken gave 465 microgrammes per sq/m whereas WHO put 50 microgrammes as poor-quality air.

Editorial comment: the moral of this story is… if you weren’t wearing a mask outdoors during those strange days, because Bill Gates wants your soul, rest assured he certainly won’t want your lungs.

(News: Andalucia)