Spain is experiencing an unprecedented increase in heat-related deaths. While high temperatures are normal in summer, the extent of current heatwaves and their health consequences are alarming. June 2025 is already proving to be the warmest on record, and the impact on public health is catastrophic.
Dramatic Increase in Deaths in June 2025
The latest figures from the Daily Mortality Monitoring System (MoMo) are shocking: Between June 1 and 21, 2025 alone, 94 heat-related deaths were recorded in Spain. This figure triples the deaths in the same period of the previous year 2024, when MoMo reported 32 heat-related deaths. This development underscores the growing threat posed by extreme temperatures.
Climate Change as a Driving Force
The Ministry of Health’s 2025 Heat Plan predicts that each prolonged heat episode (three or more days) is associated with an average of three additional deaths per day, with an effect that can last up to three days later. Behind these alarming figures lies a clear cause: climate change. It is leading to increasingly frequent, intense, and deadly heatwaves. The World Health Organization (WHO) also warns that the risk of heat mortality significantly increases, especially in densely populated urban areas and countries with inadequate infrastructure.
Spain Among Europe’s Sad Leaders
Throughout the summer period of 2024, which lasted from mid-May to the end of September, Spain recorded a total of 2,012 deaths due to extreme temperatures, as registered by the MoMo system.
A study published in the prestigious journal Nature Medicine, led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), paints an even bleaker picture for 2023. According to the study, a total of 8,352 people (5,180 women and 3,165 men) died from heat-related causes in Spain in 2023. This devastating figure makes Spain the country with the second-highest number of heat-related deaths in Europe.
The study estimates the total number of deaths in Europe due to high temperatures in 2023 at 47,690. The majority of these deaths (47,312) occurred during the hottest part of the year, between May 29 and October 1.
Considering mortality rates per million inhabitants, Southern European countries were at the top. Spain ranked fourth with 175 deaths per million inhabitants, behind Greece (393 deaths per million), Bulgaria (229 deaths per million), and Italy (209 deaths per million). However, in terms of the absolute number of deaths from heat, Spain, with 8,352 deaths, is second only to Italy, which registered 12,743. These figures highlight the urgent need for comprehensive measures to adapt to climate change and protect the population from the consequences of extreme heat.
