Barcelona sees equal record high temperature close to 40°C

Temperatures are soaring across Catalonia, and the heatwave has brought with it an equalling of the record hottest temperature ever seen in Barcelona - a gruelling 39.8°C.

The heat was recorded at the Fabra Observatory in the Catalan capital and was measures in an automatic reading, meaning it will still have to be confirmed manually. 

If confirmed, this would equal the highest temperature ever recorded in the history of this observatory, which has accounts of more than 100 years of uninterrupted data.

The high of 39.8 degrees was previously recorded on July 6, 1982, meaning the 40°C threshold has never been surpassed in the Catalan capital since records have been kept.

Tuesday also saw 37.5ºC recorded in the Raval neighborhood of Barcelona, the highest since August 27, 2010, when 39.3ºC was felt there.

Nighttime temperatures have not dipped below 27 degrees in many parts of the city last night.

The Barcelona city council has activated the alert phase of the emergency heat plan on Tuesday for the daytime temperatures, and the emergency phase for nighttime.

Authorities are collaborating with the Red Cross to carry out an operation on the streets to inform vulnerable people about climate shelters and distribute caps and water.

Climate shelters

Catalonia is combatting the intense heat with climate shelters; public spaces adapted to provide hydration, shade, and seating.

Barcelona has 350 such spaces open this summer, including public pools. The council says that 98% of city residents have a climate shelter within ten minutes of their home. 

In addition, Barcelona will install extra structures for shade in various city center locations.

Councilor Laia Bonet explained that materials were chosen that were "easy to mount and dismount, which don’t require much maintenance," and that are "easy to store afterwards, that don’t require much alteration of the public space to install them."

A further 186 climate shelters have been set up in 24 towns in the surrounding metropolitan area, serving up to 556,000 vulnerable people.

Guille López, climate action officer of the Barcelona metropolitan area, explained that "local community centers and libraries" were chosen as spaces to install climate shelters as they are "spaces that already have some form of cooling capacity, which are comfortable," but that they have also worked with parks management teams to set up shelters there.

In north Catalonia, new hydration points have been opened in Figueres, where the heat warning is also in place. In addition, water bottles are being distributed on buses.