Spain sees hottest, deadliest summer in 20 years

BARCELONA - Summer 2022 was not only the hottest on record in Spain but also the deadliest in 20 years, as thousands of people have died from heat-related causes on top of the high death toll associated with COVID-19.

According to the latest report of the Carlos III Health Institute's Daily Mortality Monitoring System (MoMo) on Thursday, the heatwave that lasted in the country from July 9 to July 26 with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius in many places was responsible for 2,223 of the 11,264 deaths registered in July. Last summer, the respective figures were 568 and 2,385.

"Most at risk are the very young and very old or those with a chronic illness that prevents them from hydrating themselves or those who are unable to avoid the heat, for example, due to a mobility problem or because of significant obesity that can put them in danger," Dr. Emilio Salgado, senior specialist in the Emergency Department of Barcelona's Hospital Clinic, told Xinhua.

"What's most worrying from a public health point of view is classic heatstroke, which generally affects people who are unable to regulate their body temperature because of a chronic illness, something which we see above all in old people or in very small children," he said.

Spain's Ministry of Health reported 3,795 COVID-19-related deaths between July 1 and Aug 14, raising the total death toll of the coronavirus pandemic in the country to 111,906.