You know, still today a ridiculously small proportion of houses have A/C in Europe, including hot places like Italy or Spain. You just don't f*cking need it.
Pamplona would get up to 100 degrees in the summer, but it was still cool and breezy in the streets. Everything's made of thick stone, which takes a lot to heat up. Streets are narrow and shady so they never get enough sunlight to heat the stone. Balconies have shutters to completely block out the sun for the few hours a day it's directly on you.
We didn't have AC, and it was pleasantly cool even in the heat of the summer.
Especially since high humidity keeps things from cooling off much at night. I grew up in the Washington, DC suburbs without AC - it bothered my father's sinuses - but I would seriously try to avoid living without it now. I remember all the crap I had to do to keep from dripping sweat on my schoolwork in the early fall and late spring - not fun.
