General Elections, 23 July 2023

Heatwave, July 2023  

On 12 July 2023 Spain held snap general elections six months early, after the President dissolved parliament due to a lack of coalition (Hernandez-Morales 2023). Critics called this poor timing, falling as it did in the middle of summer vacation for many Spaniards and a time of heatwaves. Temperatures brought a relentless heat reaching over 44 degrees Celsius. This follows a trend of dangerously hot summer temperatures; in summer 2022, the cause of 11,000 fatalities in the country (Climate Central 2023). Climate analysts note that climate change makes heatwaves in the Iberian Peninsula five times more likely to occur.  

Impact on the electoral process 

Political parties changed campaign venues to indoor, air-conditioned settings and moved rallies to cooler morning hours (Carreño and Latona 2023).  

On 23 July 2023, queues for polling were longer than usual, as voters arrived earlier to try and beat the day’s increasing temperatures. Polling stations had portable air conditioning units and water bottles to keep staff and voters safe. Some voting tables had to be moved outside as indoor rooms overheated (Laing 2023). Beyond supplying cooling materials such as water and air conditioning, no changes were made to the voting procedures.  

The heat did not appear to dampen voter turnout, being 70 per cent – higher than the 66.23 percent turnout in 2019 (Vitalone 2023).