Spain recorded more than 1,000 heat-related deaths in June and set a record for the highest number of heatwave deaths since records began in 2015, after the country was hit by extreme temperatures throughout the month.
The Spanish Ministry of Health's daily death monitoring system, released on Wednesday, July 1, recorded as many as 1,028 deaths related to high temperatures during June, surpassing the previous record, which was 1,000 deaths in June 2017.
The figure is based on estimates of excess mortality, which compares the actual number of deaths with the number of deaths that are estimated to have occurred during periods of extreme temperatures, and not based on medical certificates that directly establish heat as the cause of death.
The elderly group accounted for almost all of the fatalities. Of the total deaths attributed to hot temperatures, as many as 1,022 occurred in people aged 65 and over, including 720 people aged 85 or over. One death was recorded in a child under the age of 15.
The highest number of deaths occurred in the Mediterranean and northern Spain, whose residents are generally less accustomed to facing prolonged extreme heat than the hotter southern regions. The Catalonia region recorded 218 heat-related deaths, followed by the Basque Country with 147 deaths.
As reported by ANTARA from Anadolu, the spike in deaths began around June 21, when a record-breaking heat wave hit Spain, and remained high until the end of the month.
According to the Spanish meteorological agency, AEMET, this year's June was the second hottest June since records began in 1961.
AEMET said the average temperature in June was 3.2 degrees Celsius above the average for the 1991-2020 period, with only June 2025 recording a higher temperature.
The agency also said the 13th of June was the hottest since 1961, all of which occurred in the 21st century, reflecting long-term warming trends generally associated with global warming.
Despite setting a record for June, the month was not the deadliest period due to the overall hot temperatures in Spain.
The death monitoring system recorded 2,217 heat-related deaths in July 2022 and 2,184 deaths in August last year.
The respite from the extreme temperatures that hit last week is likely to be short-lived as AEMET warns that very hot air masses are expected to move across Spain in the coming days.
Meanwhile, a new heat wave could begin this weekend, which will bring back very high daytime and nighttime temperatures.
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