The fountains of Rome appeared yesterday full of tourists taking turns to cool off before the heat wave that crosses southern Europe, and that is also wreaking havoc in the Italian capital. “It is not the eternal city, it is the city of hell. That’s what an English journalist told us, and he’s right,” said Carmine, a waiter who took shelter in the shade of the sun that fell yesterday around the Trevi Fountain.
The Charon heat wave is fully affecting Italy. In the capital today it could reach 43 degrees and beat the record of August 2007, when 40.5 degrees were recorded. However, the heat does not stop tourism, and the surroundings of the Vatican were packed with visitors from all over the world lining up with suffering faces and holding umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun. “We come from Madrid, so we know exactly what this is. We already had the trip booked when we saw the heat wave… So, what a remedy!” Said Diego, a retiree who had stopped in Rome with his wife and his two granddaughters, as part of a Mediterranean cruise. “It’s time to walk, drink water… and endure,” lamented his wife, clinging to a cardboard umbrella, while she asked for directions to the Colosseum. At the moment, they are not expected to close monuments as happened with the Acropolis of Athens last week.
“What can we do. Drink water and when the peak hours are hot, lock ourselves in the hotel to watch a movie ”, agreed Diego, an Asturian who was visiting the city with his teenage daughter. “I can’t take it anymore, I can’t take it anymore!” protested an American tourist fanning herself in line for one of the many guided tours that fill the city streets these summer days.
It is even common for the light to go out in certain neighborhoods of the Italian capital due to the high electricity demand due to air conditioners. The bars are already spreading water with fans. “I don’t have air conditioning at home and I’m considering going to work in the subway, it’s cool there,” joked a freelancer who was counting the days until the powerful fan she had purchased online would arrive.
Rome is no exception. The Italian Ministry of Health has issued an alert in several cities in the country. On the islands of Sardinia and Sicily it could even exceed 48 degrees and, according to the European Space Agency, break the record for temperatures in the old continent of 48.8 degrees registered in Floridia (in the province of Syracuse) on 11 September. August 2021. Meteorologists warned that 40 degrees would be reached in 60% of the Italian national territory. If yesterday a total of 17 cities were under maximum alert, today they will increase to 20 and tomorrow they will reach 23. Even the north is not spared: peaks of 38 degrees are expected in Milan.
Italian authorities are issuing recommendations to protect the elderly, the sick and pets from the heat wave, asking people to stay at home during the hottest hours of the day, to drink at least a liter and a half of water during the day and moderate physical exercise. The Ministry of Health has also activated the “heat code” plan to reinforce medical services in outpatient clinics and help the most vulnerable. And, if last year Italy was the European country with the most deaths (18,000) related to extreme temperatures These days other victims are already joining. In Cagliari, in Sardinia, a 48-year-old tourist who was riding a bicycle lost his life, probably due to heat stroke related to exhaustion. In Florence, a 61-year-old cleaning worker who was working in a shed died, a death likely also linked to high temperatures in the Tuscan city.
