According to a public health advisor, higher temperatures associated with the climate problem are a danger to tourists who are not used to them.
As temperatures continue to rise and heatwaves become more frequent in Spain’s most famous tourist areas, the country is facing a “real risk” to its traditional mass tourism model said the head of health and climate change at Spain’s health ministry, Héctor Tejero. The increasingly apparent physical impacts of the climate emergency forced the ministry to initiate discussions with the British embassy on how to educate “vulnerable” tourists about coping with excessive heat.
Tejero emphasized that the major sun and beach tourist areas in Spain—the regions that rely heavily on tourism—are likely to bear the brunt of climate change. These include southern and eastern parts of mainland Spain, mainly along the Mediterranean coast. This implies there is an imminent likelihood that such places will become uninhabitable due to frequent heat waves and extremely hot nights.
These conditions could make people not want to visit the place, and increase the costs of air-conditioning in hotels as they would have to keep working longer. Tejero pointed out that tourism is just one of many industries under threat due to climate change. Besides inciting conflicts in some areas, the tourism sector must adjust itself to coming climatic changes. Spain is together with all other European Union countries most threatened by climate change and this will not alter shortly.
Recently there have been mass protests across Spain due to concerns about the rising number of tourists arriving within its borders; in fact, the country recorded 85.1 million foreign tourists last year alone-an increase of 19 percent from 2022’s figures. In the Canary Islands, demonstrators say that too many visitors make water shortages worse and in the Balearic Islands, an activist group is pushing for a cap on ferry imports.
Eight years ago, a report by the Spanish government predicted that an altered climate would have a really significant impact on Spain’s tourism sector, including eroded beaches, transport systems flooded from rising sea waters or water shortage in high season and ski resorts shutting down completely. According to its findings in 2004, by the year 2080, tourism from the north of Europe could drop by 20% when temperatures go up prompting people to remain at home during holidays.
Heat waves along with higher temperatures are still the most visible and immediate signs of the crisis-and particularly dangerous for visitors who are not used to them. Tourists face an increased danger from heat exposure because they do not adapt themselves to local temperatures. Normally they do not have any habits which will help them protect themselves against excessive heat; besides, people generally let their guard down on vacation days and forget about such simple things like avoiding sun rays during hottest hours.
Tejero advised tourists to obey the government’s heat slogan – “protect yourself; hydrate yourself; refresh yourself” – and the cues of local people who are aware of the importance of not being in the sun between noon and 4 pm. He also mentioned that last year, the fatalities from heatstroke were few and these were among tourists over 50 years old who went hiking during high summer only to suffer from heatstroke. Back in other regions in southern Europe battling with extreme heat, it has been made clear what risks lie ahead. In Greece in June last year, several foreign visitors including British television presenter Michael Mosley succumbed during an unusual hot spell.
Recent epidemiological studies have shown that approximately 3,000 deaths are attributable to the heat each year in Spain, and hot spells cause a 10% rise in urgent hospital admissions. Higher temperatures also lead to an increase in vector-borne diseases, with a man recently admitted to hospital in Madrid with Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, an emerging disease spread by ticks.
