Extreme heat arrived before summer and led to a record 101 deaths in May. The Ministry of Health warns: with each degree above the alarm threshold, the health risk increases.
The unusually high temperatures that settled in May led to record mortality related to heat in Spain even before the onset of meteorological summer. According to estimates from the daily mortality monitoring system (MoMo), there were 101 reported deaths related to high temperatures last month, the highest figure for May since statistics began in 2015.
This figure is 3.6 times higher than the average number of heat-related deaths recorded in May over the past decade, clearly demonstrating the growing impact of extreme heat episodes on health outside of the traditionally hottest months of the year.
"The problem is no longer just that it is getting hotter, but that it is arriving earlier, and our bodies are not able to acclimatize. We are observing a lack of physiological adaptation, and people are not aware of the risks it poses," explained Health Minister Monica Garcia during the presentation of the National Plan for Preventive Measures to Protect Health from Excessive Heat for 2026.
The warning came amid increasing extreme weather events. According to calculations from the Ministry of Health, the risk of mortality increases by 9.1–10.7% for each degree that the temperature exceeds the threshold considered dangerous to health.
Accumulated data also indicate the high human cost of extreme heat in Spain. According to estimates from the MoMo system, between 2015 and 2025, heat can be attributed to 27,564 deaths. The deadliest year was 2022, with 4,789 fatalities recorded, followed by 2025 with 3,832 deaths.
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