Tomorrow is going to be a typical summer day, that is, it is going to be hot, and very hot, as expected for July 23, which will be distinguished from others by the appointment with the polls. To face the heatwave, the municipalities have collected water and fans to distribute in a good part of the 22,500 polling stations.
Little more can be done, since the National Plan for preventive actions against the effects of excessive temperatures on health that the Ministry of Health activates each year between May -although it initially did so in June- and September does not contemplate any specific measure for election days.
This plan does recommend a series of actions when certain temperature thresholds are exceeded, different in each province, ranging from 26 degrees in Asturias to 41.5 in Córdoba. Depending on the number of days in which this limit is exceeded, a risk level is assigned, each of which has a series of measures linked to it.
But just after the third heat wave, brief but intense in a good part of Spain, the Aemet predicts that tomorrow will be a typical summer day with stable weather and hardly any rain, with normal temperatures for this time, which is the warmest of the year, so it will be hot, but it will not be necessary to take additional measures, which in any case corresponds to the communities to decide.
The Aemet calculations predict more than 35 degrees in the east, south and center of the country and the Balearic Islands, between 38 and 40 degrees in La Mancha, Extremadura and Andalusia and more than 40 degrees in areas of the Guadalquivir.
Three provincial capitals will reach or exceed 40 degrees: Córdoba (41), Ciudad Real and Granada (40). At the other extreme, Donostia, Coruña, Santander and Oviedo will remain at 24 maximum.
Faced with this scenario, it is the area electoral boards, dependent on the municipalities, that must guarantee spaces that are as cool as possible, so it has been the municipalities that have managed to find the best conditions for voters and, above all, for polling station members, who are the ones who will have to spend the day there.
In the north, where very mild temperatures are expected, no extraordinary measures have been planned, and for example, the provincial councils of the Basque Country have not received any recommendation to alleviate eventual heat episodes, nor does Cantabria plan to make any decision.
However, in warmer areas such as the Levante, the center or the southwest, voting centers have been equipped with fans, portable refrigeration equipment and water tanks, as Palma has done.
The Balearic Ministry of Health will also reinforce the SAMU 061 Coordination Center and offer twelve ambulances to accompany people with disabilities to vote in person.
In the Valencian Community, the Torrent City Council (Valencia) has bought 61 fans for schools and has commissioned the Works Brigade to distribute water throughout the day to all the members of the tables, in addition to organizing a special Civil Protection and Red Cross device that will act in the event of any emergency related to high temperatures.
While the one in Madrid will distribute the 2,700 fans, water dispensers and extension cords that the Government Delegation has acquired. Another Madrid municipality, San Sebastián de los Reyes, will air-condition the centers and provide soft drinks, breakfast and lunch to the members of the polling stations, local and national police, and other administration agents who must be present.
Barcelona already has its schools ready, in which, in addition to fans, some 18,000 bottles of water (about 9,000 liters) will be supplied among the people who are at the polling stations.
In Castilla y León, the City Council of Tordesillas (Valladolid) has invested 3,000 euros in air-conditioning schools and supplying them with water for tomorrow. In Murcia, the one from Lorca has collected bottles of water and fans to guarantee the best possible conditions in the 46 polling stations in the municipality.
And in Castilla-La Mancha, Toledo has opted for air conditioning units, up to 67, in polling stations that do not have air conditioning systems; Albacete has installed 150 fans in the 30 schools that do not have the means to cope with the high temperatures and will distribute 3,000 bottles of water, while Cuenca has distributed 60 devices, one for each table.
Given the absence of air conditioning in the pavilions where the polling stations have been located, Huesca has installed a light socket to plug in the fans at each of the 68 tables; In Zaragoza, the Government Delegation will guarantee the members of the tables a liter and a half of cold water in the morning and the same amount in the afternoon, some 8,000 liters in total.
In Andalusia, the Córdoba City Council put out to tender the installation of more than 70 refrigeration equipment in voting centers that do not have adequate air conditioning and the parties also plan to provide them for their auditors and proxies.
