Last summer’s record-breaking temperatures in Spain directly resulted in the deaths of more than 350 people and a huge spike in the death toll, according to official figures released on Tuesday, shortly after a first fatality related to the ongoing heatwave.
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From May to August 2022, 157,580 deaths were registered, i.e. 26,849 more (+20.5%) compared to 2019, the reference year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, states the National Institute of Statistics (INE) in a report on the causes of the Mortality in the country in 2022.
Specifically, 122 deaths were directly attributed to cases of sunstroke (compared to 47 in 2019) and 233 to cases of dehydration (compared to 109 in 2019). The more than 26,000 additional deaths compared to 2019 are related to previous chronic pathologies, the existence of which increases the risk of death in hot weather situations such as hypertension, diabetes or senile dementia, explains the INE.
According to the National Meteorological Agency (Aemet), the year 2022, marked by a muggy summer and devastating fires, was the hottest on record in Spain.
Since Sunday, the country has been facing the first summer heatwave of the year, with temperatures in Andalusia (South) topping the 44C mark on Monday and remaining around 40C on Tuesday, according to Aemet, which covers several regions on the Plan has set the alarm.
In Andalusia, the region traditionally hardest hit by heat waves, a 47-year-old man died on Saturday from complications from sunstroke, regional authorities told the AFP news agency. He suffered from previous illnesses and suffered severe heat damage while working in the fields in the municipality of Aznalcóllar.
According to Aemet’s initial estimates, Sunday has been “added to the list of heat records for this year” and, if confirmed, will be “the twelfth record of 2023, before the end of the first half of the year”. Without the effects of climate change, “we could have five records in the whole year,” Aemet continues.
In 2022, a heat record was recorded in the country on 35 days, i.e. on almost every tenth day.
In Spain, a European country at the forefront of climate change with almost 75% of its territory at risk of desertification according to the United Nations, episodes of exceptionally high temperatures have multiplied in recent years.