Spain experienced a significant heatwave in summer 2026. In several parts of the country, temperatures climbed well above 40 °C in June and July. The highest readings were particularly notable in the Comunitat Valenciana and the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula, where numerous stations repeatedly exceeded 40 degrees.
According to consistent reports from regional weather services and the media, the highest temperature recorded in Spain so far in 2026 was in the municipality of La Pobla Llarga in the province of Valencia: around 45.5 °C was recorded there on 7 July. On the same day, temperatures in other places in the region exceeded 44 °C.
The 45.4–45.5 °C reported in La Pobla Llarga therefore mark the highest temperature of the year so far in Spain. However, this is short of the national historic record. Spain’s highest officially confirmed temperature remains 47.6 °C, recorded at the La Rambla station (province of Córdoba) on 14.
August 2021. This reading was reviewed by the state weather agency AEMET and validated as the national record. During the same heatwave, 46.9 °C was recorded at the Córdoba/Aeropuerto station – also an exceptional extreme for the south of the country.
The contrast between the 2021 record day and the picture for that summer as a whole is striking: in retrospect, AEMET classified summer 2021 as “normal”; it was the 19th warmest since records began in 1961 and, at the same time, the eighth coolest of the 21st century. La Rambla’s daily record thus remained an isolated event within an otherwise unremarkable summer average.
For 2026, assessments by AEMET and Spanish media suggest that June–July in particular was exceptionally warm, making it one of the warmest periods since comprehensive records began in 1961. In addition, the European climate service Copernicus confirmed exceptional heat in Europe and record sea-surface temperatures in July 2026. In summary, the highest temperature recorded in Spain so far in 2026 was in the province of Valencia (La Pobla Llarga), while the historic Spanish record remains 47.6 °C, recorded in the province of Córdoba (La Rambla) on 14.
August 2021.
Editor: Andreas M. Brucker (Article created with AI assistance).