A cool library, a free chair, a fountain, someone who comes in without having to buy anything. It seems like little, almost a routine administration thing. On certain days, however, it can become the difference between returning home dazed from the heat and having a place where the body stops defending itself for a moment. In Spain, climate refuges are taking this concrete form: open public buildings, existing spaces put back into use with a new task, protecting those who live in houses that are too hot, work outdoors, have more years under their belt, a chronic illness, a newborn in their arms or simply little money to turn on the air conditioning.
The Spanish government has announced a statewide network of climate refuges to be activated before the summer, using public buildings and coordinating with networks already launched in territories such as Catalonia, the Basque Country and Murcia. The declared objective is to open up spaces especially in the most vulnerable neighbourhoods, where the heat is more severe and homes are less resistant to extreme temperatures. Barcelona, meanwhile, has already set a precedent: around 400 places including libraries, museums, civic centres, sports facilities, swimming pools, kindergartens and other public or affiliated spaces are indicated as places to take shelter at the worst times.
The interesting thing here lies in the normality of the gesture: a climate refuge works when a person can enter without feeling out of place. No ticket, no compulsory consumption, no “what am I doing here” face. In Barcelona, network spaces must meet minimum requirements: free access, seats, drinking water, accessibility for people with disabilities and a controlled internal temperature, indicated at around 26°C. A city that takes the heat seriously also begins by relieving embarrassment for those seeking cool air.
The heat enters the houses
Spain arrives at this choice after a very tough summer. In 2025, the Spanish health system estimated 3,832 deaths attributable to heat between May 16 and September 30, 87.6% more than in 2024. 96% of people were over 65 years old, over half over 85. The Spanish Ministry of Health specifies that MoMo, the mortality monitoring system, produces statistical estimates of excess mortality, therefore valuable data for public health, without coinciding with diagnoses individual clinics.
The detail that should make you tremble more than the news peaks concerns the moderate heat. A study published in Health Gaceta estimated, for the summer of 2025, thousands of deaths attributable to temperatures above the minimum mortality threshold even when the thermometer remained below extreme heat levels. In the months of June, July and August alone, 3,391, 4,022 and 3,418 deaths were estimated respectively attributable to moderate heat, with temperatures remaining above safe values for the body for a long time.
Here the heat changes face. It stops being just the 45 degree day, the photo of sizzling asphalt, the record to share on social media with the fire emoji. It becomes the night that remains warm, the living room without ventilation, the fourth floor without an elevator, the elderly body that recovers more slowly, the drug that interferes with thermoregulation, the small house where the air remains still. A constant, almost domestic pressure. And much more dangerous.
2025 has given Spain a rather stark taste of this new normal. According to AEMET, the state meteorological agency, the summer was the warmest since the beginning of the historical series, with an average temperature in peninsular Spain of 24.2 °C, which is 2.1 °C above the 1991-2020 average. August brought a long heat wave, 16 days, and in the south of the country temperatures exceeded 45°C.
Inside those numbers there is also the story of Montse Aguilar, a 51-year-old urban cleaning worker in Barcelona, who died after a shift during a period of intense heat. His case sparked protests and requests for greater protection for those who work outdoors, from mandatory water breaks, from adapted timetables to protocols actually applied. Because the heat, when it hits, often finds bodies already exposed.
Europe feels the pinch
Spain is moving earlier and better than many other countries, but the problem is now on a European scale. The continent is warming faster than the rest of the world: the European 2025 report by Copernicus and WMO indicates an increase of around 0.56 °C per decade over the last thirty years, more than double the global average. Extreme heat has already reached even areas that for decades were thought to be sheltered. In 2025, Scandinavia experienced 21 days of intense heat, with temperatures above 30°C even in the Arctic Circle area and tropical nights in countries accustomed to a completely different climate imagery.
The Lancet Countdown Europe 2026 report speaks of approximately 62,000 deaths attributable to heat in Europe in 2024 and reports that 99.6% of the subnational regions analyzed record an increase in heat-related mortality. In the same framework, health advisories for extreme heat grew by 318% in the period 2015-2024 compared to 1991-2000. Another study coordinated by ISGlobal estimated 62,775 heat-related deaths in Europe in the summer of 2024 alone, with Italy in first place by absolute number and Spain in second, with 6,743 estimated deaths.
Bucharest, Romania, also approved in April 2026 the creation of a network of climate shelters designed for both heat waves and extreme cold. Access, however, decides everything. A shelter open at the wrong times is half the use. A space far from the most fragile neighborhoods ends up protecting above all those who can move around. Even shopping centres, with all the air conditioning available, remain places built for consumption: you enter them to shelter from the heat, then you pass through shop windows, checkouts, corridors designed to hold you back. For this reason, the network of climate refuges should follow the map of vulnerability: age, health, income, quality of homes, outdoor work, transport, shade, distance from services. Without this work, a sign remains on the door.
A city that breathes
The most difficult part comes after the opening of the first spaces. Climate shelters can save lives during heat waves, but a city adapted to the changing climate also needs streets with shade, mature trees, fountains, less impervious soils, better insulated buildings, public transport that can withstand the summer, and rethought working hours when the heat makes it dangerous to be outside. Greenery and water, in this case, stop being street furniture and become healthcare infrastructure.
Municipalities alone often have limited resources. We need funds, staff, agreements with neighborhood associations, NGOs, libraries, schools, gyms, local businesses. Above all, simple communication is needed: clear signs, updated maps, information in multiple languages where necessary, directions in senior centers, clinics, popular condominiums, bus stops. Fragile people should not be intercepted only when the thermometer exceeds the red threshold.
Climate refuges tell a very concrete thing: climate adaptation does not always look like a great work. Spain is trying because the heat has already taken its toll. The rest of Europe can continue to treat it as a slightly nastier summer than the others. Then July will arrive, and the cement will do its job.
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