Heatwave linked to 212 deaths in Spain Sunday-Wednesday: Public institute

Madrid: A record heatwave that has gripped much of Europe could be linked to 212 deaths in Spain between Sunday and Wednesday, according to estimates from a public institute.

The MoMo monitoring system compiles daily death statistics in Spain and compares them with the levels foreseeable based on historical records.

It also incorporates external factors, such as weather data from the national weather agency AEMET, to assess likely causes of mortality spikes.


Its data registered an excess mortality of 98 deaths for the same four days of 2025, during what was the hottest summer on record in a country on the front line of climate change.

The number of heat-related deaths in Spain between May 16 and September 30 last year hit 3,832, an 87.6-percent increase from the same period in 2024, according to MoMo data.

Mainland Spain this week recorded its highest daily average temperatures in June since at least 1950, with Monday's figure of 28. 08C followed by 28. 17C on Tuesday.

Those two days also marked the highest average minimum temperatures for June since 1950, with 20. 14C recorded on Monday and 19. 81C on Tuesday. These so-called "tropical nights" make sleep challenging and can threaten public health.

The weather sparked the highest alert in parts of northern Spain including Cantabria and the Basque Country, which are usually spared the harshest heat but where temperatures soared past 40C.

Most weather alerts had been lifted on Thursday, with the lowest yellow level in force in the north.