May, June and July 2022 were the driest quarter ever recorded in Spain since statistics began 57 years ago.
With the exception of March and April, this year has been characterized so far by a particular lack of rainfall, according to the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET).
Rainfall in July was less than half normal, with nine liters per square meter across Spain, AEMET spokesman Rubén del Campo said, noting that the drought index meteorological at the end of the seventh month should be “similar to or even better than that of June”.
Santiago de Compostela collected between May and July 159 liters per square meter, 36% less than normal. It’s been more than two weeks since it rained in the Galician capital. Valladolid, meanwhile, recorded 62% less than the usual average and the city remained dry for 16 days until August 2.
Rainfall in Madrid has “not even reached a fifth of normal” this quarter, Del Campo said. In Ciudad Real there was practically no rainfall, he added. It also seems that the month of August is following the same path.
Zaragoza received 31 liters per square meter during this quarter, a figure that barely represents 36% of the average rainfall value for this period, which amounts to 87 liters per square meter.
Since the beginning of the year, 367 forest fires have destroyed more than 235,000 hectares in Spain, the highest figure for a country in the European Union.
.