(Barcelona) The heat wave which hit Spain for nearly ten days has caused the death of “more than 500 people”, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Wednesday during a trip to Aragon, a northern region. of the country affected by a fire.
Posted at 8:44 a.m.
Updated at 9:30 a.m.
“During this heat wave, more than 500 people died due to such high temperatures, according to data,” he said, referring to an excess mortality estimate published by a public health institute.
“I ask citizens to be extremely careful”, he added, repeating that “the climate emergency is a reality” and that “climate change kills”, phrases uttered several times during this wave of heat which raised the thermometer to more than 45 degrees and stoked numerous fires ravaging tens of thousands of hectares across the country.
The number of deaths mentioned by Mr. Sanchez is a reference to the estimates of the Carlos III Public Institute which makes a statistical calculation of the excess mortality caused by specific causes, such as the rise in temperatures, by comparing these figures with historical statistical series. .
This institute has made a point of clarifying its figures in recent days, stressing that it was a statistical estimate and not an official death register.
Possibly the most intense heat wave on record
The heat wave that hit Spain was the most intense ever recorded in the country, according to preliminary data published on Wednesday by the national meteorological agency (AEMET).
This heat wave, which lasted from July 9 to 18, was the one with the “strongest temperature anomaly” recorded in the country since the start of data compilation in 1975, according to Beatriz Hervella, spokesperson for the AEMET .
Somehow synonymous with the intensity of the heatwave episode, the anomaly is the difference between the average temperature marking the start of the wave in the country and the maximum recorded during the episode. It rose to 4.2 degrees, the highest figure in history.
“We are also talking, at least, of the third (heat wave) in duration” after 2015 (26 days) and 2003 (16 days) but its duration could ultimately “increase”, added Beatriz Hervella.
Indeed, if officially, the heat wave, during which temperatures exceeded 45 degrees, ended on Monday in Spain, the thermometer has fallen relatively little since and the AEMET could therefore estimate a posteriori that it is is continued.
These exceptionally high temperatures have fanned huge fires since last week across the country, one of which led to the death of a firefighter and a shepherd near Zamora (north-west).
The latest outbreak worrying the authorities declared itself on Monday in Aragon (north-east). It has already ravaged thousands of hectares and led to the evacuation of 1,700 people. The rail line linking Madrid to Barcelona had to be cut due to the flames before being reopened to traffic, but roads remained cut on Wednesday.