Mosquitoes

[landroverdave]

Hi, I am new to the forum but have lived in Spain for 6 years. Is it my imagination or are there more mosquitoes around at the moment than other years. We are being bitten as soon as any flesh is exposed. I am looking for any suggestions about ways to get rid of them or at least something to stop the little buggers biting us. Help the itching, please make the itching stop aaahh.

[Nalle]

Roll around in mud... you might look like a pig. But the mosquitos wont get you. ...

Serious though. Ive heard that vinegaar works as a good repellent.
Has of course the side effect that you will walk around smelling like a sallad, but it is probably better to smell like a sallad than look like a pig.

Any chemist could also recommend a good repellent

[landroverdave]

Rolling around in mud, that just sounds like a Saturday night out back in the UK and I still used to wake up with bite marks. Er erm ooops perhaps that was just the company I kept.
Will try the salad dressing, anything has got to be worth trying to stop the cursed itching!!!
Mind you if anybody posts that dressing up like Dame Edna Everage and smothering yourself in honey works, I might draw the line at trying that.

Other than that saled dressing here we come!!

[andywebb]

I must say that i have found the mosquito problem a recent one.

I have had a property for ab0ut 8 years and i dont rememebr in the early days being bitten as much as today.

Can anyone give a good reason for this?

Should the local authorities start to tackle the problem?

I'm itching for an answer!

[Lewrog]

As soon as you noticed that you have been bitten,hold a lighted cigarette as close to the bite as you can, leave for a couple of seconds,repeat a few times, no itching, kills it dead.Old Turkish remedy.
Good excuse to start smoking again!

[Wendy Nesbeth]

We live 4 streets away from the Salt Lake in Torrevieja, they used to spray the lakes, but not anymore as Green Peace stepped in, that is why we have so many mossies.

They are like a swarm.

Luckily I am not bothered but they love my husband.

Try to eat Marmite it is supposed to help.

Wendy x

[landroverdave]

I tried eating marmite, but her partner snowy objected. Marmite and snowy are our friends two cats!
Seriously I have tried marmite and lots of other things but none of it seems to work. There must be an answer somewhere, but until then lots of gin and tonics to dull the itch!

[KC1]

At the farmacia, ask for this:

ESTEVE ESPUMA ANTIALERGICA HIDROCORTISONA

retailing at around 6.70 euro and supplied as a 50g aerosol.

It worked for me in far hotter and mosquito ridden climes than these and it works well here too.

[kenbowns]

Andy

My thoughts exactly, just returned this evening and I have never been bitten so much, they come up like big blisters too, also copped for some extra bites on the plane from Murcia so there must be plenty of them around the airport too.

[Granjo]

I too get bitten to shreds, I find that lavender oil which you can apply neat to the skin helps deter them. When you have been bitten I use tea-tree oil, it stops the itching for me and stops my skin swelling up in red bumps. You can apply tea-tree neat to the skin but it does have rather an antiseptic smell, not exactly my favourite perfume but anything is better than that itching!

[Gill_Bell]

Have you tried that old favourite Avon Skin So Soft (smells lovely) ?

[Britbuild]

This info is second hand so please dont shoot the messenger.

Apparently mossies cannot see you, they smell you, and then attack. If you put citrus oil on your sweat glands (wherever they might be) then you become invisible to the mossies and dont get bitten.

I was told this by a local when in Alcudia once (and if anyone has been there they will know what a problem they have there with mossies).

[landroverdave]

That sounds reasonable and worth a try. Maybe thats why the Avon products work as well. If nothing else it will make us all smell nice

[Brindleboy123]

Stop the itch.......

Hi, I am new to the forum but have lived in Spain for 6 years. Is it my imagination or are there more mosquitoes around at the moment than other years. We are being bitten as soon as any flesh is exposed. I am looking for any suggestions about ways to get rid of them or at least something to stop the little buggers biting us. Help the itching, please make the itching stop aaahh.

One of the best methods I know I got from my Spanish neighbour. Mix a little bicarbonate of soda into a paste with some water.Place onto the area where you are itching. It does the trick but visually isn´t very flattering (at least you don´t smell like a bag of fish and chips though...vinegar!).

Two parts water to one part vinegar is good though for sun burn. Takes the sting right out .

Hope it helps.