Red alert: first summer heat wave makes Spain sweat “A debacle with announcement” – the reactions to the AfD victory in Thuringia

This summer’s first official heat wave has left locals and tourists in Spain moaning and sweating.

For large parts of the Andalusian provinces of Seville and Córdoba in the south of the country, the national weather service Aemet even declared a red alert on Monday. There was expected 44 degrees in the shade in the late afternoon. Meanwhile, the mercury column in Seville was already approaching 40 degrees at noon.

But it was also unbearably hot in many other parts of the country on Monday. In Madrid, where it currently ‘cools down’ to only 22 or 23 degrees at night, you saw very few people on the streets in the afternoon. Many tried to cool off in the bright sun and well over 30 degrees in the shade with fans, umbrellas or water bottles. The maximum daytime temperature of 37 degrees announced by Aemet should only be reached in the capital between 4 and 7 p.m.

“Nowadays you are not allowed to go outside until it is dark, around 10 p.m. And even then you still sweat,” says student Álvaro (22) of the German press agency. “I’m only out because the fridge is empty and I mainly need beer.” In the supermarket it is “nice and cool”. According to media reports, the beaches and well-cooled shopping centers in particular have all been very busy since the start of the heat wave on Saturday.

From Tuesday, temperatures should therefore drop slightly after the peak on Monday, but the heat wave will not noticeably decrease until Thursday. Until then, alert levels of red, orange or yellow will apply in many regions of the country.

In Spain, June heat waves have become more common in recent years, as Aemet points out. “Excluding the current heat wave, we have already experienced six heat waves this month since 2011. Between 1975 and 2010, on the other hand, there were only five (June) heat waves.” Authority spokesperson Ruben del Campo has long warned: “One thing is clear: (man-made) climate change is causing more extreme weather events.” (zag/sda/dpa)