Spain suffers its second deadliest July due to heat with 2,026 deaths, almost double that of a year ago

Spain has registered 2,026 deaths attributable to high temperatures during July. The balance exceeds by 91% the 1,060 estimated in the same month of 2025 and makes last July the second deadliest since the Daily Mortality Monitoring System (MoMo) began making these calculations in 2015.

Only July 2022 left a higher figure, with 2,217 deaths. Between May and July of this year, MoMo already calculates 3,158 heat-related deaths, distributed among 101 in May, 1,031 in June, and 2,026 in the last month. The accumulated total is equivalent to 82% of all those estimated during 2025.

Age again makes the difference. A total of 1,944 victims were over 65 years old and 1,249 were over 85, representing 96% and 62% of the total, respectively. Almost six out of ten deaths corresponded to women.

Catalonia leads the absolute figures with 544 deaths, followed by Andalusia with 262 and the Valencian Community with 235. The Basque Country registers 140; Castilla y León, 130; Galicia, 129; and the Community of Madrid, 121. The autonomous community figures show the estimated number of deaths, although to compare the real risk between territories it would also be necessary to adjust for population and age structure.

Europe heats up and health risk increases

MoMo calculates these deaths using a statistical model that compares expected mortality with registered mortality and studies its relationship with the temperatures of each province. The 2,026 deaths do not correspond solely to certified heat strokes, as they include deaths related to the worsening of cardiovascular, respiratory, renal, and other pathologies during warm episodes.

The meteorological context helps explain the sharp increase. June 2026 was the second warmest in Spain's historical series, with an average temperature 3.2 degrees higher than usual, and the third driest. Copernicus also placed it as the warmest June ever recorded in Western Europe, before new heatwaves reached the continent during July.

Europe is warming more than twice the global average, and the consequences are already appearing in health statistics. The European Environment Agency estimates that 95% of deaths associated with extreme weather and climate phenomena recorded on the continent between 1980 and 2023 were related to heat. An attribution study also calculated that climate change caused by human activity was behind approximately half of the heat deaths that occurred in Europe during the summer of 2022.

The latest homogeneous analysis for 32 European countries estimated 62,775 heat deaths during the summer of 2024. Spain then ranked second, with more than 6,700, only behind Italy. These figures cannot be directly compared with MoMo because they come from another model and cover full seasons, but they show the European dimension of a particularly serious threat in the south of the continent.

Health authorities recommend drinking water frequently even if there is no sensation of thirst, avoiding alcohol and drinks with a lot of caffeine or sugar, and reducing physical activity during central hours. Closing blinds during the day, ventilating at night, and spending several hours in cool or air-conditioned spaces can reduce exposure, especially in homes that accumulate a lot of heat.

Vigilance is essential among older people, chronic patients, young children, pregnant women, outdoor workers, and those who live alone. In case of confusion, seizures, loss of consciousness, or a very high body temperature, call 112 immediately, move the person to a cool place, and begin to cool them while healthcare assistance arrives.