€10 million for climate shelters: a cheap substitute

€10 million for climate shelters: the government goes for a quick fix

What is the point of pledging €10 million for climate shelters when the underlying problem is an energy model that cannot withstand a heatwave? Sánchez's government announced the creation of these spaces in public buildings before the summer, a measure that sounds good in headlines but that the most sceptical analyses call cosmetic.

The promise and the doubts
The €10 million, which for some are nothing more than a token budget line, would go towards converting state-owned centres into cooling points. However, the shadow of misused funds hangs over the announcement. It is not the first time that a programme of this scale has ended up in suppliers' profit margins without citizens feeling any thermal relief. Meanwhile, public parks close during the hottest hours, a decision that contradicts the shelter spirit and has been described as "robbing Peter to pay Paul".

The precedent of climate lockdowns
The debate is not new. In autumn 2025 there was already talk of "climate lockdowns" as a response to wildfires and heatwaves, a policy that generated enormous controversy and was covered in several articles by the newspaper El Economista. Now the focus shifts to shelters, but the scepticism remains: will it really achieve anything when temperatures exceed 40 degrees? Or, as the more ironic observers ask, will the money end up in portable heaters or in a Caribbean bank account?

The most generous estimate assumes these spaces will shelter a few thousand people. The pessimist believes the measure will simply become a new hotspot for corruption. In between, citizens wonder why nothing is being done about housing infrastructure and energy poverty.

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