DEATHS caused by excessive heat in Spain could reach a decade-high annual level with 3,096 fatalities recorded between May and July.
3,102 deaths were attributed to heat in the same period in the deadliest year of the decade- 2022- with current trends suggesting that the total of 4,792 could be exceeded.
The number of fatalities are more than double than those in 2025.
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The figures have been compiled by the Carlos III Health Institute via data from the MoMo Daily Mortality Monitoring System.
The trend is still far off the summer of 2003, which was the deadliest summer of the century with 6,534 fatalities- 4,363 in August alone.
That year saw one of the longest-ever heatwaves which lasted for 16 days.
Jose Chen a researcher at IS Global and The Lancet Countdown told the El Mundo newspaper: “Heat-related deaths already equal or exceed the number of flu deaths during the winter, which requires a proportional response.”
“It should be treated as a public health emergency, mobilising resources from all sectors to respond appropriately to it,” he added.
The State Meteorological Agency(Aemet) says that temperatures for May and June were between 1.4C and 3.2C higher above the average using a reference period from 1991 to 2020.
Every extra degree has medical implications as the Ministry of Health states that the risk of death between 9.1% and 10.7% for every degree that temperatures rise above the risk threshold.
The regions that suffered the greatest loss of live through heat were Catalunya (676), the Basque Country (344) and Andalucia (335), while there were no heat-related deaths reported in the Balearic Islands.
Jose Chen pointed out that daytime temperatures are only part of the story, as the number of tropical nights rose.
“Prolonged exposure, both day and night, is important,” he stated.
Aemet said that the number of tropical nights in the country’s main cities has gone up four times since the 1980’s.
Chen said: “High night temperatures are important because people lack a window of recovery after daytime heat.”
“This is harmful, especially for older adults and people with chronic diseases.”
“In Mediterranean coastal cities, this risk is often amplified by humidity and the urban heat island effect, which can keep neighbourhoods warmer well into the night.”
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