Toddler Dies After Being Left in Car as Spain Bakes in Unseasonable Heat

A two-year-old girl has died from heatstroke in northwestern Spain after her father accidentally left her in his car during a spell of unseasonably hot weather, with temperatures in some areas expected to hit 38°C (100°F).

The child, whose name has not been released, suffered cardiac arrest Wednesday afternoon after spending several hours inside the vehicle in the Galician town of Brión. According to local media, the father had driven his older child to school that morning and planned to drop the toddler at nursery when he became distracted by a phone call. Instead, he drove to work, forgetting the child was still in the back seat.

The alarm was raised when the girl’s mother arrived at the nursery at 3 p.m. to pick her up and was told she had never been dropped off. Realizing what had happened, the parents called emergency services. The child was rushed to a health center in nearby Bertamiráns, where she was pronounced dead.

Police are investigating the incident, and the family is receiving psychological support. Brión’s town council declared two days of official mourning and said a minute of silence would be held Friday. “We offer our deepest condolences and all our support to the family,” the council said in a statement.

The tragedy comes as Spain braces for heat more typical of midsummer. The state weather agency, Aemet, warned that “exceptionally high temperatures” could reach 36–38°C in some southern areas. “Throughout May, we recorded below-normal temperatures,” Aemet noted. “Now comes the complete opposite.” The hot spell, which does not technically qualify as a heatwave, is expected to last until midweek.

Spain, one of Europe’s most climate-vulnerable countries, has seen a rise in heatwaves and wildfires. A 2022 Aemet study found that 30°C temperatures now arrive 20–40 days earlier than they did 71 years ago. “The summer is eating up the spring,” said Aemet spokesperson Rubén del Campo. “The climate in Spain isn’t the one we used to know. It’s got more extreme.”