Climate change is responsible for 77% of heat-related deaths in Spain in 2026.

According to scientific estimates from the Imperial College and the School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, climate change was responsible for 77 percent of heat-related deaths in Spain during the summer of 2026. Out of an estimated 6,824 total heat deaths between June and August of that year, 5,227 were attributed directly to human-induced global warming. Across the broader European continent, climate change accounted for 65 percent of an estimated 50,000 heat-related fatalities during the same period.

Within this continental context, specific urban centers experienced disproportionate impacts. Barcelona emerged as the second-highest European city for climate-driven heat mortality during the summer, recording 1,587 deaths attributable to global warming out of a total of 1,842 fatalities caused by high temperatures.