Daily Times

Residents and tourists in Portugal and Spain stayed in the shade or flocked to the beach Saturday as southern Europe sweltered in a heat wave that has produced near-record temperatures and threatens to stick around for days to come.

The extremely high temperatures, caused by an influx of hot air from Africa, were also carrying loads of dust from the Sahara Desert.

Portugal issued red health alerts for extreme heat for more than half the country on Saturday, with thermometers approaching 46 degrees Celsius (114.8 degrees Fahrenheit). The country’s highest ever recorded temperature was 47.4 C (117.3 F) in 2003.

Spain also issued warnings of extreme heat for its southern areas, with temperatures expected to reach 45 C (113 F) in the cities of Seville, Huelva, Badajoz and Cordoba. Spain’s all-time record of 46.9 C (116.42 F) was set in Cordoba in July 2017.

In southern Portugal, the town of Evora was almost at a standstill Saturday as only a few foreign tourists dared to venture out to take photographs of the Roman ruins called Diana’s Temple.

“Oh it’s terrible,” said tourist Paul Snell. “We’re from Canada and never felt heat like this before. We’re just drenched with water. Yeah, I need to hydrate constantly.”

Francisca Serrano, a souvenir seller, added “we are used to high temperatures, but it seems the air doesn’t flow and that makes it difficult to breathe.”

Across the Iberian Peninsula in Barcelona, where the stifling air barely stirred during the night, Spaniards scurried to the beach with families and friends, along with swarms of sweating tourists.

Those who couldn’t make it to the sea drank cold beverages under large umbrellas in city squares. Others doused their faces and necks in public water fountains, or simply pulled down the shutters and stayed at home.

Health officials issued reminders about the dangers that extreme heat can pose, especially for the elderly and the young.

The rest of Spain, including the normally wet and temperate northwestern region of Galicia, was also punished by the sun and heat. The heat wave hit Friday, breaking local temperature records at eight places in Portugal. It also played a part in the deaths of two men, one in Barcelona and the other in the southern Spanish region of Murcia, according to Spanish authorities.

Published in Daily Times, August 5^th 2018.