A TOWN in the Costa Blanca hinterland has been forecast to suffer an astonishing 46C this week, as local records reveal just how much average temperatures have risen in the last 60 years.
The figures come from Ontinyent, a town in the Vall d’Albaida area of southern Valencia province that borders Alicante and the Costa Blanca to the south.
AEMET, Spain’s State Meteorological Agency, has forecast Ontinyent itself to reach 46C on Thursday, July 23, as the country’s third heatwave of the summer peaks across the region’s interior.
Xativa, another inland Valencia town, is forecast to hit the same 46C that day, with the overnight low not expected to fall below 24C.
AEMET data show the first 18 days of July ran 3.4C above the seasonal average, a bigger anomaly than any equivalent period since July 2015, the next-warmest stretch on record.
The quarter figure comes from AVAMET, the Valencian Association of Meteorology, which compared AEMET readings taken at exactly the same weather station outside Ontinyent in July 1966, July 1996 and July 2026.
Average daytime highs across those 15 days have climbed from 30.2C in 1966 to 37.8C in 2026, a rise of 25% — a quarter — in 60 years.
The single hottest reading in the whole comparison came on July 15, when Ontinyent hit 44.5C.
That matched a red heat alert issued the same day for 162 municipalities across Valencia province, where temperatures reached up to 44C.
Night-time lows rose too, from an average of 17.3C in 1966 to 20.7C this year — evenings that offer little relief from the heat.
The heat has already triggered the Generalitat Valenciana’s maximum wildfire alert twice this month, on July 6-9 and again on July 15-16.
READ MORE: New heatwave warnings for Costa Blanca with Saharan hot air mass set to last for days
Known as level 3 of the region’s forest-fire risk plan, it bans lighting any fire — including barbecues and bonfires — in forest land and within 500 metres of it, and closes hiking trails, cycling routes and vehicle access across numerous protected natural parks.
Among the areas closed to walkers and cyclists are El Montgo, above the Costa Blanca resort of Denia, the Serra Gelada park near Benidorm and Altea, and the Penyal d’Ifac nature reserve at Calpe.
Regional authorities are also urging people to avoid direct sun between 12pm and 4pm, drink water regularly and pay special attention to children, the elderly and other vulnerable people.
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