Valencia at night in July: silence, heat and closed terraces

Valencia at 1 a.m.: dead silence and empty streets in the middle of July

The city of Valencia died at night this summer. At least at 1 a.m., when a motorcyclist rode through the city and encountered a silence he could not remember. No terrace conversations, no groups of young people, hardly any traffic. Just the hum of his air-cooled bike, which forced stops to keep the engine from overheating.

A ghost town at 29 degrees
On the night of the hottest day of the summer, with 29°C at 1 a.m. and an even worse heat index, it seemed everyone had been driven indoors. The main avenues could be crossed effortlessly, as if the city had shrunk. The university district —Honduras, Cedro, Blasco Ibáñez streets—, empty until September, added to the desolation. Youth tourism, according to analyses, has dropped due to rising prices, with young travellers seeking more affordable destinations.

Nightlife is concentrated and getting pricier
Noise ordinances have done their job: most bars with terraces close at 12:30. After that hour, only nightclubs and pubs with special licences remain, clustered around Marina Beach and the port. The rest of the city offers makeshift street stalls with no charm and no decent music. The traveller was looking for a coffee with music and a cigarette outdoors: an extinct combination. The walk-in tourist, the diagnosis goes, stays in the hotel or resort and never sets foot on the street.

Valencia's nightlife, once diffuse and bustling, has become localised and scheduled. "The blue summer days are gone." Perhaps in September, with students back and milder temperatures, the city centre will regain some pulse. But the feeling that something has broken —and will never be the same again— hangs in the hot July air.