Cleaning in Spain: the trick is in what you don’t do

In August, I felt you really shouldn’t be cleaning. Too early, too hot, too much of a waste to sweep the summer sand out the door already. Now, a few weeks later, the evenings are darker, the heat more bearable, and the moment seems right. But even now, I believe the art of cleaning in Spain lies mainly in what you don’t do.

Cleaning stress is an export product

I often see it with newcomers: as soon as September begins, out come the buckets of suds, the pressure washer and the cleaning cloths as if an audit were about to take place. It’s as if they’ve imported the Dutch idea of an ‘autumn clean’ into a country that never asked for it.

Spain is not a showroom. It’s a country where a floor is allowed to be slightly faded by the sun, and where a garden only truly feels alive if a few dry leaves are left lying around.

Keep a little mess as a souvenir

A clean house is nice, but a house that’s too clean feels cold. If you scrub everything until it shines, you also wipe away your summer. So leave a few traces: the pale mark on the table where a vase always stood, a weathered cushion that still smells of sun cream, a grain of sand in the hall that makes you smile. They’re small reminders that you haven’t just lived in your house — you’ve truly lived.

Don’t clean against nature

Many people now reach for the pressure washer to make terraces and walls spotless again. But nature does most of that work itself. The first autumn rains wash away the dust, and the sun dries everything out again. Why waste litres of water forcing something that happens naturally? The same goes for the garden: let the soil breathe for a while, and you’ll see that late summer has a better recovery plan than any cleaning routine.

In Spain, you don’t clean in the middle of the day

Anyone who starts cleaning in Spain in the middle of the afternoon either dislikes themselves or lives in a poorly insulated house. It’s the worst timing you can choose: open the windows and you mostly let in hot air and dust — yourself included. It’s smarter to tackle it at dusk, before it gets completely dark. The air is cooler, there’s still enough light to see what you’re doing, and it feels more like a fresh close to the day than a punitive chore.

Pest management

Don’t forget: in Spain you never really live alone. Ants, cockroaches and mosquitoes love crumbs, damp corners and that one forgotten glass of sangría on the counter. Cleaning isn’t just for yourself — it’s also to prevent finding a little neighbourhood party in your kitchen at night.

Not everything that crawls around is your enemy. Geckos, those little lizards on your walls, are more like allies. They eat mosquitoes and other pests faster than you could ever keep up with a fly swatter. So if one strolls across your ceiling while you’re mopping the floor, let it get on with its job.

Cleaning as a test, not as the endgame

Instead of aiming for perfection, use September to see where your house hasn’t made it through the summer. Tiles that have really gone dull, shutters that stick from the dryness, a wall showing cracks. Those are the spots that will need your attention later. The rest? Leave it be. It’s not a contest in shine — it’s maintenance with sense.

less cleaning, more living

Cleaning in Spain isn’t about having a flawless home. It’s about a house that moves with the seasons. A house that’s allowed to breathe, to gather a bit of dust, and to show a few scars here and there. The trick isn’t to make it shine, but to know when to let it be.