Climate change

Spain Records Hottest Summer Since 1961

Published SEP 17 2025

Story

Above: A pathway crosses burned land following wildfires on Aug. 21, 2025, in Cernego, Ourense province, Spain. Image credit: Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images

The Facts

Spain experienced its hottest summer since records began in 1961, with an average temperature of 24.2 C from June to August, surpassing the previous record set in 2022 by 0.1 C.
The Olive Press
EuroNews
The country endured three heat waves spanning 33 days during summer 2025, including a 16-day heat wave in August that brought temperatures above 45 C in southern Spain and was the most intense on record.
Reuters
Independent
Spain's summer wildfire season was the worst in three decades, with more than 400,000 hectares burned by the end of August, which is more than six times the average for the same period between 2006 and 2024.
Reuters
Aa
Nine of the 10 hottest summers in Spain have occurred in the 21st century, with the summer of 2025 being 2.1 C warmer than the 1991-2020 average, according to state weather agency AEMET.
Dw.Com
Majorca Daily
Excess mortality data suggest that 3,656 people died in Spain during summer 2025 due to extreme heat, more than the 2,010 deaths recorded in summer 2024, according to health institute estimates.
Dw.Com
Aa
The weather conditions were attributed to economic losses across the European Union, with a study estimating that this summer's weather events could cost the region's economy at least €43 billion.
New York Times
Earth.Org

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The Spin

Climate-concerned narrative

Spain’s hottest summer on record is no “normal” heat — it is a warning. Fires, droughts, and deadly heat waves prove climate change is accelerating and lethal. To dismiss this as exaggeration is reckless denial. Both alarmism and skepticism mislead, but willful blindness is deadlier still. Spain must act boldly now — or condemn future generations to ruin.

guardian

The Spanish Eye

Climate-skeptic narrative

Spain’s record heat should not blind people to a deeper danger: climate exaggeration. Alarmists darken maps, distort sea data and preach doom, breeding fear and paralysis. Wild claims of apocalypse erode trust, obscure science and empower ideologues. Reason, not hysteria, must guide the way.

Clintel