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Spain recorded 5,807 heat-related deaths during the summer of 2026, the highest figure in a decade, according to the national mortality monitoring system (MoMo).
The estimate, reported on Tuesday, is based on final data collected between May 15 and September 30, the period covered by the National Plan for Preventive Actions against the Effects of Excess Temperature on Health.
The toll surpasses the two deadliest summers since the series started: 2022, with 4,789 deaths, and 2025, with 3,832.
It is more than 51% above last year’s figure and 188.61% of the 2024 total, when 2,012 deaths were estimated. Even so, it remains well below the summer of 2003, when around 13,000 people died in Spain because of heat, a catastrophe that led the Health Ministry to design a national prevention plan.
🌡️ September 2026 was the 2nd warmest globally & 3rd warmest in Europe on record.
🇪🇺 Western Europe saw exceptional heat, with parts of France, Portugal, Spain & Italy 4–6°C above average.
August produced the most fatalities, with 2,162 deaths. July followed with 2,026, then June with 938, September with 559 and May with 123.
Compared with last year, the 2026 toll stands more than 51% higher. Measured against 2024, the increase reaches 188.61%, a year in which the system calculated 2,012 deaths.
The number has not reached the historic summer of 2003, when roughly 13,000 people died in Spain as a result of high temperatures. That catastrophe prompted the health ministry to design and launch a prevention plan for the effects of heat on health.
The elderly again bore the heaviest burden. Some 97% of estimated deaths attributable to heat occurred among people aged 65 or older, and 62% among those over 85.
Women were disproportionately affected, accounting for 3,486 deaths, or 60% of the total. Men accounted for 2,321. The impact was not uniform across the country, with the highest mortality rates recorded in the north and northeast of the peninsula.
A Year of Extreme Weather
The team coordinating MoMo at the National Epidemiology Center attributes the impact to an exceptional climatic context. It described this summer as the warmest in recent history, with four heat waves identified by the State Meteorological Agency, plus an additional one in early September.
A persistent drought, large wildfires and an intense marine heat wave in the western Mediterranean compounded the situation. Those conditions combined to push mortality to levels not seen in the decade of MoMo records.
The Carlos III Health Institute said the data reinforce the importance of continuous epidemiological surveillance and stronger prevention and adaptation measures against extreme heat. The warning carries weight as climate patterns grow more volatile.
Scientists have linked the exceptional summer to broader climatic shifts, including the Super El Niño phenomenon. Studies suggest that phenomenon could cause heat-related deaths of 451,000 people worldwide over the coming six months.
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