Poniente

The generic name given to the west wind. That name refers to the fact that it blows from where the sun sets (se pone). In the Iberian Peninsula it is a wind of Atlantic origin, cool and humid at its source, but as it crosses - from west to east - the peninsular territory and the various mountain obstacles along its path, the air it displaces gradually loses moisture and increases in temperature, becoming a dry, superheated wind on reaching the Mediterranean coast. On the nautical wind rose used in the area, the Poniente wind appears opposite Levante, both blowing in opposite directions. Both names are commonly used in that geographical area, expressed both in Castilian Spanish and in Catalan (ponent and llevant). The Poniente that blows in the Strait of Gibraltar and its surroundings presents opposite characteristics on either side. While on the Atlantic coast of Cádiz it arrives with its original characteristics (thermal mildness and high humidity), on the coasts of Málaga it strikes as a denatured wind, causing a significant rise in temperature and great environmental dryness in the area.