Spain sea temperatures hit record highs in summer of 2026

Sea temperatures around Spain reached record highs this summer, with multiple monitoring stations in the Mediterranean and off Spain’s Atlantic coast registering their highest readings, the state port authority Puertos del Estado has said.

Last month, according to scientists, human-caused climate change was the main driver of recent record-breaking sea temperatures around Europe, Caliber.Az reports, citing Reuters.

They warned of severe consequences for marine ecosystems and coastal communities.

The Dragonera buoy in the Balearic Islands recorded a water temperature of 33.02 degrees Celsius (91.44 degrees Fahrenheit) on August 5, the highest value ever registered in the port authority’s buoy network.

Almost all buoys in the Levante-Balear basin of the Mediterranean set local temperature records during the summer, the authority noted.

Coastal buoys off Tarragona and Barcelona in northeastern Spain registered 30.7 C and 30.5 C, respectively, on August 9.

Record temperatures were also registered at several Bay of Biscay buoys in Spain’s northern regions. On June 23, the buoy near the northern town of Pasaia recorded 28.4 C.

Another buoy, equipped with a temperature sensor since 2006, registered a record 25.27 C on August 12.

Spain has also experienced extreme heat on land this year, recording 61 days under heatwave conditions across the mainland and Balearic Islands in 2026, the highest number on record and above the previous peak of 41 days in 2022, according to the weather service AEMET.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov