There's a red alert in Madrid, Cordoba and Seville as Spain sizzles in its first summer heatwave. Temperatures soared to 44 degrees Celsius in the south while the capital Madrid also baked at over 40 degrees Celsius. 

Spain's environment minister Teresa Ribera described unseasonal heat across the Iberian Peninsula in March and April as "terrifying" and now the country is set for a blistering summer.

With no beach in the capital Madrid, people find refuge at public pools and water parks like the one at Madrid Rio with its water jets.

Rocio is a young mother who says public spaces like these are essential.

'So hot we can't even sleep'

"I have three young girls, we come here to these water jets which are free and we can cool off a bit, it's so hot in Madrid that we can't even sleep, even with the air conditioning at full blast," she told CGTN.

Lidia Richards is from New York and has been teaching English in Madrid for a year. She is trying to survive without air conditioning.

"Yesterday I went to one of the local pools, so just finding different ways to cool off," she said. "The past five days have been super hot, and insane … Not what I'm used to."

Richards has a little trick that helps her sleep when temperatures stay above the thirties well into the morning.

"I have a cold shower, jump in bed, and hope I fall asleep before it dries off," she said, laughing. 

Deaths from heat stroke and dehydration up 88%

The heat has deadly consequences.

On Monday a 47-year-old man died while ploughing a field in a town in Seville.

In 2022 – the hottest year on record – deaths from heat stroke and dehydration soared by 88 percent compared to 2021, according to the National Statistics Institute.

The institute said 122 people died of heat stroke and 233 of dehydration between May and August last year when heatwave after heatwave swept across Spain.  

A total of 189 people died from the two conditions in 2021.

Reservoirs dry up across Spain

A heating climate is also causing water shortages which affect crops, livestock, reservoir levels and biodiversity. 

Flamingos used to flock to the Fuente de Piedra wetlands in Andalusia, but now the lagoon has dried up.

Experts are amplifying their concern.

'This will only get worse … some things are irreversible'

"Weather is becoming more extreme and in Europe those extreme weather conditions last longer," Ruben del Campo from Spain's weather agency AEMET told CGTN. "Last summer we had heatwaves that lasted for weeks and this spring we had  abnormal heat in April, the hottest April in history.

"We are suffering with heatwaves like this one becoming more frequent and more extreme. From the scientific community we try to make people understand that this will only get worse. 

"Even if our responsibility is to try and reverse the worst effects of climate change, some things are irreversible."

Climate crisis frontline 

Europe is heating at twice the rate as the rest of the world and in Spain drought has caused reservoirs to dry up from Galicia to Cordoba.

Rising temperatures continue to set the record books on fire and new measures limit work outside, including construction workers, from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. while new guidelines aim to keep vulnerable groups like children and the elderly from harm.

Adaptation in action as Spain experiences new extremes.

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