Spain is now groaning under a heat wave after snow

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The official start of spring in Europe is only a good week away – but in Spain millions of people are already groaning at temperatures that sometimes exceed 30 degrees. Tens of thousands of people flocked to Mediterranean beaches to cool off over the weekend, and in some places it was even difficult to spread out the towel. Mallorca experienced the first tropical night of the year: from Saturday to Sunday, minimum temperatures in parts of the popular holiday island – such as Palma – were above 20 degrees.

Just two weeks ago, Mallorca was still struggling with snow chaos. “Early Summer in Late Winter!” was the headline in “Mallorca Magazin”. At these temperatures it is already difficult to fall asleep, according to experts from the Mallorcan newspaper “Última Hora”. “Why is it so hot now?” Many complain online. Some even left the air conditioning on at night. Human-induced climate change is suddenly back on everyone’s lips.

The suffering of one, the joy of the other: “Unbelievable, I could have shoveled snow at home today,” Sabina told the German news agency dpa on the phone. The born Hamburger went into the – still relatively cool – sea in Alicante with her husband and three children on Saturday, where it was about 30 degrees warm. “Actually, we had brought the swimwear just to be on the safe side. We never thought they would actually be used here.”

Hotter and drier

The Portopí weather station in Palma recorded 27.3 degrees on Saturday at 2 p.m., the highest temperature in March since measurements began. According to the Spanish weather service Aemet, the previous record of 26.6 degrees was measured in 1981. March records were also broken elsewhere on Saturday. In Castellón in the Valencia region, the mercury column even reached the mark of 30.8 – 0.6 degrees above the previous high. On Sunday it became a bit “cooler” – but with values ​​still rising to 30 degrees, for example in Murcia. According to Aemet, it will remain warm in many places in the coming days.

In general, the climate in Spain, as in other parts of Europe, has been getting hotter and drier for years, which has been attributed to climate change. Heat and lack of rain hit parts of the continent hard last year. With peak temperatures sometimes exceeding 40 degrees, it was one of the warmest years in Spain since weather records began.

First regions limit water consumption

Because there was far too little rain in parts of Spain, even in autumn and winter, the water shortage is getting worse. The reservoirs are currently on average just over 40 percent full. The average over the past ten years at this time of year was 58 percent. The risk of serious forest fires also remains high.

The situation in Andalusia and Catalonia is dramatic. The reservoirs there are only about a quarter full. In Catalonia in the northeast of the country with the metropolis of Barcelona, ​​water consumption in agriculture and industry is therefore already limited. In parks and gardens, only trees may be watered. If the rain stops, the head of the regional water board, Samuel Reyes, expects restrictions on private drinking water consumption from the autumn, he told the newspaper “El País”.

Source: Blick