MADRID: Vacationers and locals in Madrid struggled to deal with temperatures reaching as much as 40°C on Sunday (Jun 21) as the primary official heatwave of 2026 set in, and authorities warned of overexposure to the solar and an elevated danger of wildfires.
Haily San Cesario, a 22-year-old engineer visiting Madrid’s El Rastro flea market from Miami mentioned: “I am dressed all in white as a result of it is so sizzling, and I am carrying my little electrical fan all over the place I’m going.”
Aemet, the state-run climate forecaster, mentioned 13 of Spain’s 17 areas are on orange alert for warmth on Sunday, whereas the Basque Nation, within the northwest, is on purple alert, the best degree. The heatwave will proceed till Thursday.
“The warmth actually is exhausting,” mentioned Madrid resident Ana Garces, a 49-year-old social educator additionally visiting the market.
The top of SNCF, the French state-owned railway operator on Sunday, suggested susceptible folks towards taking the practice through the heatwave, which on Saturday prompted a partial alcohol ban in France, nationwide warnings in Germany and the closure of a soccer fan zone in Spain.
The extreme warmth introduced renewed considerations of its impression on folks’s well being, notably the aged.
