Last Wednesday, Spain announced plans to prohibit several types of outdoor work, including street cleaning and agriculture, during periods of extreme heat. The ban will go into effect whenever the national weather agency AEMET issues red or orange alerts, which warn of severe or extreme heat risk (AP News).

“We have already seen many episodes, certainly very serious ones, in cleaning and waste collection in which workers have died from heat strokes,” Second Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Diaz noted in an interview (Reuters). This April was Spain’s hottest and driest April on record. This year, Spain has already had 11 hotter than normal days­—greater than twice the number typically observed over a full year (Reuters). 

The plan is part of a legislative package the Spanish government passed last week in response to the drought currently affecting nearly one-third of its territory (AP News). The new legislation will also put an additional $2.4 billion toward building new drinking water and wastewater infrastructure and aiding struggling farmers (AP News).