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 threat 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 scorching, and I am carrying my little electrical fan in every single place I am 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 crimson alert, the best stage. 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 weak individuals towards taking the practice throughout 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 issues of its influence on individuals’s well being, notably the aged.
