Spain is experiencing the worst June heat wave since 1950, with temperatures locally exceeding 44 degrees.

In the cities, people often went to fountains, ice cream parlors and air-conditioned shopping centers to cool off on Saturday, the media reported.

Some of the beaches on the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts were already full in the early morning.

The record of this hot period was registered last Friday in Andújar, Andalusia, with 44.2 to 44.3 degrees.

According to the Aemet weather service, it should be particularly hot on Saturday with 40 to 42 degrees, especially in the regions of Catalonia, Navarre and Basque Country in the north-east and north of the country and in Andalusia in the south.

Otherwise it was anything but cool: In the capital Madrid, the mercury column should climb up to 39 degrees on Saturday.

Up to 37 degrees were expected on the holiday island of Mallorca.

There is no real cooling down at night either, in large parts of the country the temperatures hardly drop to 20 degrees after the sun has set.

The so-called tropical nights keep the Spaniards from sleeping.

The heat and drought favored the outbreak of numerous forest fires which, according to official figures, have already destroyed a good 25,000 hectares in various parts of Spain within a few days.

This corresponds to an area of ​​around 35,000 football pitches.

On Saturday, the flames were still blazing uncontrollably in many places.

The situation was worst in the Sierra de la Culebra mountain range near the border with Portugal in north-west Spain, where 20,000 hectares of forest have been destroyed and 1,700 people have been evacuated.

Aemet announced that the heat wave would subside significantly after a good week on Sunday.

In Madrid, for example, there should still be around 30 degrees.

On Mallorca and in Navarra, locals and holidaymakers will continue to sweat profusely at temperatures of up to 37 degrees at least until Monday.

Heat waves are increasing in Spain, said Aemet spokesman Rubén del Campo.

The absolute record was measured last August in Montoro in Andalusia: 47.4 degrees.

This development is due to man-made climate change.

Del Campo warned in an interview with the newspaper "La Vanguardia" that one should not be surprised if the 50-degree mark is reached at some point.