"If you go out, you'll fall apart": the heat wave in one of the hottest spots in Ponent

SerosTemperatures reached their peak this Monday. At the height of the second heat wave of the summer in our country, temperatures have already surpassed the levels reached during the first, which occurred in early July, and for the first time this year, temperatures have exceeded 43°C in Catalonia. Specifically, in Vinebre, temperatures reached 43.8°C, which is not only the highest maximum temperature this summer but also the highest heat record in the 27 years of data from this Meteocat meteorological station.

In fact, if it weren't for the torrid and extraordinary peak of July 2023 in Alt Empordà, which set a new absolute heat record in Catalonia – with 45.4 ºC in Figueres – this Monday would have equaled the record that stood until then, set in 2019.

Beyond Terres de l'Ebre, temperatures have also exceeded 40 ºC in many parts of the Tremp and Ponent basins. The day in Pla de Lleida has been stifling, which has made the vast majority of inhabitants choose to stay at home or at work or to take refuge in municipal swimming pools until, at dusk, the marinada (some call it garbinada: south wind) lowered the thermometers a little.

"If you go out, you'll melt," says one of the workers at the Serós municipal swimming pools, where temperatures have exceeded 41ºC. This is where the largest number of residents fleeing the heat are concentrated. "We have no other option," says Iván Ribero, a young man from the town who acknowledges that residents prefer to stay indoors rather than socialize.

Carme Teixidor lives in Ripollet with her husband, Enrique Luque, but they both always come to Seròs to spend the summers. "I'm from here, and it's where I feel at home," explains the woman. Fans in the house and spending the evenings in the pool are their way of coping with the heat. "In the afternoons, we don't go out at all," assures Luque, who, despite being originally from Málaga, acknowledges that the heat in Seròs is second to none.

For the elderly in Seròs, the retirement home is the only refuge for proper socializing. "These days we only go out in the morning to go shopping, and little else," says one of the 400 members of this organization, which has a space in the town center. Without bar service, they at least have access to cards and conversations at a reasonable temperature. When they close at 9:00 p.m., everyone returns home. "We have nothing to do on the street these days," they say.

"At least the current wave, in the middle of August, hits us with longer nights, which allows for more cooling towards the morning," explains Mayor Josep Antoni Romia. In fact, accustomed to topping the ranking of highest temperatures in the region, the town is relatively prepared for the heatwaves. Most farmers and builders work long shifts, and the swimming pools are always full during the middle of the day.

"Just one fan for the whole house"

But coping with the heat is an increasingly greater challenge for the most vulnerable families, who lack the resources to mitigate it. One example is Rita Cazador, a woman from Fragatina who has lived with her husband in Aitona for over 40 years. She receives a disability pension of 700 euros per month, which doesn't allow for many luxuries, such as the purchase of an air conditioner. "We only have one ceiling fan for the entire house," Cazador explains. They live in a small two-bedroom apartment and keep the blinds down most of the day to minimize the heat. Nights are very difficult.

Due to health problems, Cazador had to double up on her job at a fruit processing plant in the municipality more than a decade ago. Her husband, a bricklayer, was also seriously injured in a work-related accident and has been on sick leave for years. The current heat wave has also caught them at one of the most inopportune times. They have to go to the Arnau de Vilanova Hospital in Lleida every day for cancer treatment. "These are very difficult times for us," she says. Her two daughters, now adults and one of them the mother of a child with autism, also lack the resources to help them.

In Puigverd de Lleida, also in one of the most important hotspots in Ponent, is Marian Ler, a single mother of three children who lives in an old house where she finds installing air conditioning impossible. "We live in rented accommodation, and I'm sure that if we made an investment of this kind, we would have to replace the entire electrical system," says Ler, who chooses to open windows in the morning to let the fresh air cool the house and lower the blinds at midday.

Twenty years ago, she left the capital of Lleida to live in a town like Puigverd, where "the atmosphere is friendlier and more welcoming." He says he "grew up in a poor neighborhood" and has always sought a similar environment that allows him to "live a lot on the streets." A street that, unfortunately, is a real furnace at certain times.