At a press conference last week, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez urged the country to conserve energy in every way possible, including taking off ties to stay cool. | Photo By Eduardo Parra/Europa Press via Getty Images
As Europe grapples with a scorching summer and skyrocketing energy prices, Spain has become the latest government to tell its citizens to turn down the AC.
A decree published on Tuesday morning in the official state gazette and scheduled to go into effect next week mandates that air conditioning in public places be set at or below 27 degrees Celsius (about 80 degrees Fahrenheit) and that doors of those buildings remain closed to save energy.
Those public places include offices, shops, bars, theaters, airports, and train stations. The decree is being extended as a recommendation to all Spanish households. The rules include maintaining heating at or below 19 degrees Celsius (about 66 degrees Fahrenheit) in the winter and will remain in…