Spain Scorched by Extreme Heat, 212 Fatalities Reported

A severe heatwave blanketing much of Europe has claimed at least 212 lives in Spain, shattering temperature records. The fatalities were recorded between Sunday and Wednesday by a public institute that monitors daily mortality and calculates excess deaths against historical baselines. Spain’s national weather agency, AEMET, warned of a ‘serious, even extraordinary danger’ as the heatwave persisted, with the worst conditions expected in the northern regions where air-conditioning is rare. A red alert was issued for parts of northern Spain, with temperatures forecast to soar to 42 degrees Celsius. According to property portal Idealista, only 1 to 9 per cent of homes in these areas have air-conditioning, well below the national average of 41 per cent. The heatwave, which began on Sunday, has broken multiple records, including an all-time high of 43.7 degrees Celsius in Cantabria and new night-time highs in Zamora and Almería province. Health Minister Monica Garcia stated that an average of 2,000 to 5,000 people die each summer in Spain from heat-related causes. She urged the public to drink water, seek shade and stay in cool rooms, warning that fatigue, headaches, nausea or cramps could indicate heatstroke. ‘Heat kills, and climate change kills,’ she said, encouraging those with air-conditioning to invite friends and relatives over. In May, the health ministry reported 101 heat-related deaths, the highest figure ever recorded for that month since data collection began.