Dylan Wagemans
MARCH’S abundant rainfall has led to a spring with a lot of pollen, which will lead to many allergies.
Since the beginning of May, there have been high peaks in the number of pollen in the air, and it’s expected to last at least until mid-June.
Depending on the weather conditions, the pollen could even remain in the air over the summer.
All the vegetation that has sprouted after a mild winter watered by abundant rainfall has pollinated in spring, pushing thousands of patients with allergic rhinitis to doctors.
“People are very affected this year,” said Juan Jose Zapata, president of the Spanish Society of Allergology and Clinical Immunology.
“The pollen peaks have made new patients, many who were stable and didn’t have any allergies beforehand are now affected.”
Although the allergy season affects the whole of Spain, it varies greatly by area.
While the olive tree hits Andalusic and Extremadura harder, grasses do so more intensely on the plateau and the Levante.
The situation is somewhat more favourable in the Cantabrian Sea area, although it’s not spared from pollination that is high throughout the territory.
What happens in the coming weeks will depend a lot on the weather this June.
A fine rain helps to wash away the pollen that is suspended in the air, cleaning the environment.
However, thunderstorms, those violent rains preceded by cold wind, cause a paradoxical effect: pollen rises to a certain height, hydrates, fragments and then falls into smaller particles, which penetrate more easily into the respiratory tract.
