Brits heading to Spain this summer may find that their holiday is more uncomfortable than usual as the country passes new air conditioning laws restricting the minimum temperature it can be set at. It comes as Spain experiences soaring with temperatures with weather alerts in place.
Under the new law air conditioning systems in Spanish shops, offices and hospitality venues can no longer be set to below 27C in the summer. The rule has been introduced among other energy-saving measures, which also ban people from raising their heating to 19C in winter, The Mirror Reports.
The regulations will prove challenging to tourists visiting the country as highs of 42C have been forecast in Spain. A weather warning for “intense heat” is in place for more than half of Spain’s provinces this week, while other parts were forecast to remain in the high 30s.
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Spain's state weather service said that it was not dismissing the idea that the temperatures would reach heatwave status. A spokesperson said: "It cannot be ruled out that it will end up being classified as a heatwave, especially in the south-west of the peninsula, although it will not be as extraordinary as that of mid-July."
The warnings come just days after Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called on workers to ditch their ties in an effort to save energy in the heat.
Meanwhile the country has also been hit by a spate of devastating fires in a number of regions over the past few weeks. Around 200,000 hectares of land thought to have been lost to wildfires this year.
Thousands of people including Brits were evacuated from their homes in a Costa del Sol fire last month which followed another near Estepona in June.
The new measures include switching off store window lights after 10pm but street lighting will not be affected. Shops will be obliged to keep doors closed and heating systems must be checked more often to increase efficiency under the new measures, Spanish Ecological Transition Minister Teresa Ribera added.
The government passed the bill as part of a bid to reduce the country’s gas consumption by 7 per cent. This is in line with the recent European Union energy agreements to limit dependency on Russian gas.
Ms Ribera said the measures would be maintained on an initial basis until November 2023. Mr Sanchez announced the new package last week. He said: "You just need to walk into a shopping mall to realise that maybe the temperature is set too low."
Spanish public institutions already operate similar energy-saving regulations. The government says the measures will not only save energy but will also bring down bills for households and businesses.
Spain is one of the hottest European countries in summer. It has already seen two heat waves this year with temperatures often surpassing 40C for several days in a row.
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