Heatwave horror: Spain sees 57% rise in heat-related deaths this July
July has become one of Spain’s deadliest months for heat-related deaths in the past decade
Last winter in Spain may have been long, damp and dreary but the summer has been equally relentless, breaking heat record after heat record with virtually no let-up. In just one year, deaths attributable to extreme heat in Spain have increased by 57%, going from the 674 recorded in July 2024 to the 1,060 reported last month.
Sadly, the heat-related spike wasn’t limited to July. In June 2024, only 32 deaths were linked to extreme temperatures. This year, that number made a horrific leap to 407. It was around this time that the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) issued its first official warning about an early summer heatwave.
Following an unusually rainy spring, June went on to smash records. It was the sixth warmest June ever recorded in Spain, with an average temperature of 23.7ºC, which is 3.6 degrees above the norm. It was also exceptionally dry, receiving just 68% of the average rainfall.
This July recorded the fourth highest number of heat-related deaths in the last decade. The worst on record was July 2022, which claimed 2,217 lives, followed by 2015 with 1,797 and 2019 with 1,087 deaths.
Looking at the summer season as a whole, 2022 remains the deadliest on record with 4,789 heat-related deaths. It is followed by 2023 with 3,007, 2017 with 2,857 and 2016 with 2,551, according to the Carlos III Health Institute.
Speaking on Tuesday August 5, Minister for Health Mónica García warned that heat “is one of the risk factors that most impacts this time of year, increasing mortality and heat exhaustion and exacerbating some illnesses.”
This week’s heatwave, the second officially declared of the summer, has put ten Spanish regions on high alert.
On Monday August 4, an 85-year-old man died in Torremayor, Badajoz. He is the second person to die from heat-related causes in Extremadura this summer. The first was a 67-year-old man in Plasencia, Cáceres, who passed away earlier in July.
Between July 4 and 12, three more deaths were reported in Almería, Córdoba and Huelva. Two people died in their homes while another collapsed outdoors.
They are not alone. On July 3, a man and a woman died of heatstroke in Castellón and Alicante. A few days earlier, on June 28, a 51-year-old cleaning worker in Barcelona collapsed on her way home after work. A preliminary autopsy found she died from a head injury after falling, in the middle of the first heatwave.
As Aemet so poignantly pointed out back in June, “heat is a silent threat that causes thousands of victims every year, who are not direct victims of heat stroke, but rather indirect victims due to the worsening of previous pathologies.”
One helpful tool used to predict the risks of extreme heat is the Kairós panel, run by the National Centre for Epidemiology. It flags mortality risks from high or low temperatures using a colour-coded system for each area and age group: green means no risk, orange is moderate and red signals a high risk of death due to temperature.
As of Tuesday, seven Spanish provinces are at red alert: Pontevedra, Ourense, Valladolid, Salamanca, Cáceres, Toledo and Madrid. Five others are listed as orange: Badajoz, Ciudad Real, Zamora, León and Burgos. The rest of the country remains at low or no risk.
How to stay safe in extreme heat
The Spanish authorities continue to urge the public to stay alert and take basic precautions. Drink water often and avoid being out in the sun during the hottest part of the day. Watch out for vulnerable groups like older adults, children, people with medical conditions and pregnant women, as well as outdoor workers.
It is also recommended to wear light, breathable clothing, a hat and sunscreen, and to stay in the shade or in cool spaces whenever possible. Physical activity should be kept to a minimum during peak heat hours.
Civil protection services also warn about the increased risk of forest fires and ask people to be extra cautious.
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Image: Pixabay
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