Extreme heat arrived before summer, causing a record 101 deaths in May. Health authorities warn that health risks rise with every degree above alert thresholds.
Unusually high temperatures recorded during the month of May have already led to a record number of heat-related deaths in Spain, even before the start of the meteorological summer. According to estimates from the daily mortality monitoring system (MoMo), last month saw 101 deaths attributable to high temperatures, the highest figure for a month of May since the start of the historical series in 2015.
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This figure is 3.6 times higher than the average number of deaths linked to heat recorded during the months of May over the past decade and highlights the growing health impact of episodes of extreme temperatures outside the traditionally hottest months of the year.
"The problem is no longer just that it is hotter, it is that it arrives earlier and earlier and our bodies have not yet acclimatised. There is a lack of physiological adaptation and there is no perception of the risk this entails," explained the Minister of Health, Mónica García, during the presentation of the 2026 National Plan for Preventive Action on the Health Effects of Excess Temperatures.
The warning comes in a context of increasing extreme weather events. According to calculations by the Ministry of Health, the risk of mortality rises by between 9.1% and 10.7% for every degree by which the temperature exceeds the threshold regarded as risky for health.
The cumulative data also show the high human cost of extreme heat in Spain. Between 2015 and 2025, the MoMo system estimates 27,564 deaths attributable to high temperatures. The deadliest year was 2022, with 4,789 deaths, followed by 2025, with 3,832.
