MADRID: A severe heatwave killed at least 212 people in Spain over four days this week, according to preliminary estimates released by Madrid’s Carlos III Health Institute.
The institute said the death toll more than doubled compared with the same four-day period in 2025, when 98 heat-related deaths were recorded.
Spain’s National Centre of Epidemiology (CNE) said the figures remain provisional and will require about a week before they are finalized.
CNE scientist Diana Gómez said preliminary data showed 380 heat-related deaths across Spain in June so far. More than half of those deaths—55%—occurred during the latest four-day heatwave.
Spain is among the European countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Although the country has long experienced hot summers, heatwaves have become more frequent, more intense and longer-lasting in recent years.
Spain’s national weather agency said several days in June 2026 ranked among the hottest recorded since 1950. It added that June 2025 had already been the country’s warmest June on record.
