{"id":70431,"date":"2026-08-14T10:17:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T10:17:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/70431\/"},"modified":"2026-08-14T10:17:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T10:17:11","slug":"bar-and-restaurant-terraces-in-spain-face-new-extreme-heat-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/70431\/","title":{"rendered":"Bar and restaurant terraces in Spain face new extreme heat rules"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spain<\/a>\u2019s hospitality sector is facing tougher rules on outdoor working during extreme heat<\/a>, with bars and restaurants required to close terraces<\/a> when temperatures exceed 42\u00b0C or when AEMET issues an orange or red heat warning.<\/p>\n

The measures are set out in the Sixth State Labour Agreement for the Hospitality Sector (ALEH), which aims to protect workers from dangerous temperatures. Outdoor service can continue if businesses have adequate measures in place to reduce heat exposure.<\/p>\n

The agreement, signed in April and backed by employers\u2019 organisations Hosteler\u00eda de Espa\u00f1a and CEHAT, as well as the FeSMC-UGT and CCOO Servicios trade unions, links workplace safety directly to official weather warnings.<\/p>\n

Under the new rules, businesses must have protocols setting out what action should be taken when extreme heat warnings are issued. Establishments without suitable protection will have to shut their terraces and move operations indoors.<\/p>\n

Businesses urged to protect workers from extreme heat<\/p>\n

Hospitality businesses can use measures including thermal insulation, water misting systems and industrial fans to reduce temperatures in outdoor areas.<\/p>\n

Employers must also organise staff rotas to limit exposure to the hottest part of the day, between 1pm and 6pm. Workers must have access to fresh drinking water and should be rotated to prevent prolonged periods working in extreme heat.<\/p>\n

If temperatures rise above 42\u00b0C, or a red warning is issued without adequate protection measures in place, outdoor service must be suspended. The rules are part of wider efforts to adapt working conditions to increasingly frequent episodes of extreme heat linked to climate change.<\/p>\n

Fines of up to \u20ac50,000<\/p>\n

The Labour Inspectorate will be responsible for checking that businesses comply with the requirements. Serious breaches can result in fines of up to \u20ac50,000.<\/p>\n

Inspectors will check whether businesses have suitable heat-protection measures, adequate supplies of drinking water and appropriate staff rotation systems. They will also assess whether businesses have followed the required protocols when weather warnings are issued.<\/p>\n

When an orange AEMET warning is activated, managers must assess whether conditions on their terraces remain safe. A red warning for extreme heat will require outdoor areas to close if adequate heat-mitigation systems are not in place. The rules apply across the hospitality sector to businesses with outdoor service areas, regardless of their size.<\/p>\n

Responsibility for assessing whether a terrace can remain open initially falls to the establishment, although the Labour Inspectorate can intervene and order a temporary closure if it considers conditions unsafe.<\/p>\n

Workers affected by a compulsory terrace closure should be moved to indoor duties where possible. Their pay should not be affected simply because outdoor service has been suspended due to extreme weather.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Spain\u2019s hospitality sector is facing tougher rules on outdoor working during extreme heat, with bars and restaurants required…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":70432,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[13458,27611,4367,7638,27612,27610,17,7636,19495],"class_list":["post-70431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-spain","tag-bars-and-restaurants-in-spain","tag-bars-and-restaurants-mallorca","tag-did-you-know","tag-extreme-heat","tag-mallorca-red-alert","tag-orange-alert","tag-spain","tag-terraces","tag-weather-warning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70431\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}