MADRID. Drinking a beer at 40 degrees on a terrace in Madrid, turning on the air conditioning and refueling is now more expensive than a year ago. An inflation that in June reached 10.2% in Spain, the highest figure in the last 37 years, has raised practically all products and services in the European country.
The country is experiencing the worst heat wave in the last 20 years with temperatures reaching 43 degrees. Although until now, the most intense wave is that of August 2021, when the thermometers in some provinces of the European country exceeded 47 degrees, that of 2022 has crept into the top three of the longest since records have been kept.
But, unlike the others, this one takes place in the midst of an energy crisis in the old continent triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Electricity and fuel are now more expensive, so, unlike last summer, turning on the air conditioning system is now 50% more expensive, according to data from the Selectra energy rate comparator. A similar situation occurs with other household appliances needed to alleviate the heat wave, such as the ceiling fan, which, although it represents a much cheaper cost than air conditioning, whose electricity cost tripled in the last year.
Like every year, thousands of Spaniards will spend a few days of summer on a beach, however, the transfer and the stay will be more expensive than last year. Filling the tank of the car is now 34% more expensive than a year ago and hotel nights cost 45% more than last year. Beer, whose demand skyrockets during the summer, is 5% more expensive.
But this summer of scorching heat, exacerbated by inflation, is not only wreaking havoc on consumers’ pockets, it could tip the Old Continent’s economy into recession.
1,700 kilometers from the Spanish capital, water levels along Germany’s Rhine River, which is key to moving grain, fuel and chemicals, are so low that shipping has been disrupted, potentially disrupting even more supply chains.
Britain last week recorded the highest temperature in its history. The photo of a Buckingham Palace guard drinking water from a bottle dressed in a red cloth suit went around the world, while some schools, museums and doctors’ offices closed their doors, and some trains and flights canceled trips.
Warm water temperatures in France are preventing some nuclear power plants from operating amid other maintenance issues. In northern Italy, farmers are facing the worst drought in seven decades, affecting crop production.
Forecasters warn that the highest temperatures will arrive in August, which is usually the hottest month of the summer.
Economist Carsten Brzeski, who works at Dutch Bank ING, told CNN this weekend that high temperatures in Europe are already affecting agricultural and industrial production, which will keep inflation at record highs. A weak euro is making it more expensive for companies to import necessary goods, while inflation is at record highs, which in June reached an average of 8.6% in the 19 economies that use the euro.
The situation is not better in other parts of the world. Unprecedented extreme heat has fueled wildfires in the United States and triggered alerts in dozens of Chinese cities, the world’s two largest economies.
President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he would “use the power of the presidency” to push through emissions cuts through a series of upcoming executive actions and regulations.
In Mexico, a severe drought in Nuevo León caused the state government to limit, for two months, the water supply to just seven hours a day. The situation also led the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to ask the manufacturers of soft drinks and beer – an industry that uses water intensively – to this week and, the second largest bottler of Coca-Cola, announced that they will donate water from their wells for domestic use.
Climate change is no longer just a concern for environmentalists.
With information from Reuters and AFP
