44°C Wednesday: Devesa shuts, city pools open until 9pm

Today's essentials (5 key points)

• The Comunitat Valenciana braces for the summer's fiercest heat on Wednesday 19 August, when the AEMET expects highs of up to 44°C and has issued a red warning.
• Valencia city hall has closed the Devesa natural park until Friday 21 August and will extend municipal pool hours to 9pm on Wednesday.
• The Valencian government has raised protected-housing prices by 16.7% in two years, lifting a 90-square-metre flat from 198,000 to 231,120 euros, according to elDiario.es.
• Iberdrola has scheduled power cuts in several Alicante towns, including Dolores, Daya Nueva and Dénia, between 15 and 21 August.
• A wildfire in Soneja, in Castellón province, remains active after burning 150 hectares and forcing 500 residents to evacuate.

Today's essentials

44°C Wednesday: Devesa shuts, city pools open until 9pm. Valencia province braces for the summer's hottest day on Wednesday 19 August, with the AEMET forecasting up to 44°C and a red heat warning that has already closed the Devesa park and pushed the city to open its pools until 9pm.

The AEMET national weather agency has placed the northern and southern coasts of Valencia province, plus the northern coast of Alicante, under a red warning for extreme heat from 1pm to 9pm on Wednesday, according to El Debate and El Español. One notch below, an orange warning covers interior Alicante and the southern coast of Castellón, where El Periódic reports highs between 39 and 44°C.

The hottest spots will be Alzira and Sollana, two inland towns in the south of Valencia province, where El Debate expects the mercury to touch 44°C and the feels-like figure to reach 54°C in the early afternoon. El Periódic notes this is already the fifth red heat warning of 2026, a record since the Meteoalerta plan began, driven by a persistent poniente (the hot westerly wind) that should ease only on Thursday morning.

On the ground, Valencia city hall has closed the Devesa, the natural park along the Albufera lagoon, until Friday 21 August, and the Generalitat Valenciana has raised its forest-fire plan to pre-emergency level 3 across the whole region until the same date, banning woodland access and any use of fire. Street markets are suspended for the day and the municipal sports foundation has cancelled its open-air classes and beach activities, per El Periódic.

The upside for staying cool: the city's municipal swimming pools will keep running until 9pm on Wednesday, an extended timetable, and Valencia Plaza reports the council is opening social emergency centres for anyone struggling with the heat. With the woodland and the Albufera off-limits, the reliable refuges this week are the guarded city beaches during safe daytime hours, air-conditioned public buildings and those pools. The Conselleria de Sanitat asks people not to swim alone or on unguarded beaches, to obey the flags and not to dive from rocks in natural spots.

What this means for you: treat Wednesday as an indoor day between roughly noon and 5pm, carry water, use high-factor sun cream and check on older neighbours and anyone vulnerable. If you had a hike, an Albufera bike ride or an inland natural pool in mind, postpone it, because the forest restrictions run until Friday 21 August. The heat and the poniente are expected to hold until Thursday morning, according to Valencia Extra, so real relief should arrive by the end of the week.

Weather today

Today's weather in Valencia. Valencia city gets a hot but calm Tuesday 18 August, with lows of 24°C, highs of 33°C, mostly clear skies, no rain and a light breeze up to 15 km/h, according to Open-Meteo.

Inland the heat bites harder: Open-Meteo puts Requena at a high of 37°C under clear skies with wind up to 20 km/h, while the southern coast at Cullera mirrors the city at 24 to 33°C but wakes up under morning fog. Rain is off the table everywhere today.

With highs at or above 34°C inland, keep water on you and skip the full sun in the early afternoon; today is the mild rehearsal before Wednesday's red-alert peak.

Transport & traffic

• A new direct flight to Valencia by late 2026. A new direct air route will link Valencia with a European capital billed as 'the greenest in Europe' by the end of 2026, according to Valencia Secreta. The connection adds to a tourism boom that Valencia Secreta says is already visible in the city's streets, shops and public transport. For residents it means another link to northern Europe from Valencia's airport, handy for weekend trips or family visits, though the airline and the exact launch date have yet to be confirmed.
• Protected housing gets 16.7% pricier in Valencia. The Valencian government has raised the price of officially protected housing by 16.7% in two years, so a 90-square-metre flat now costs 231,120 euros instead of 198,000, elDiario.es reports. The price per square metre climbs from 2,400 to 2,568 euros, elDiario.es notes, after business associations had pushed for a rise of at least 7%. For house-hunters relying on protected housing as a supposedly affordable route into ownership, the change adds roughly 33,000 euros to a mid-sized flat, narrowing the gap with the open market.

What's changing for you

• Valencian C2 can now be required in some public tenders. A tax review body, the TARC, has upheld the right of the Diputación de València to demand a high level of Valencian (C2) from bidders on its public contracts, elDiario.es reports, while striking down several other requirements in the same process. If your company bids for Diputación contracts, factor in that the firm or its staff may need to prove C2-level Valencian; the body rejected a challenge that had called the requirement discriminatory. The same ruling suspended other conditions in the tender, so read the exact clauses of any live call carefully before submitting.
• Power cuts hit Alicante towns until 21 August. Iberdrola has scheduled power cuts in several Alicante-province towns from 15 to 21 August, with Dolores, Daya Nueva and Dénia among those affected, according to Noticias CV. If you live in or are staying in one of these municipalities, plan around interruptions this week: charge phones and laptops in advance, keep a torch handy and expect no air conditioning during the outage, which matters in this heat. Check Iberdrola's notice for the exact streets and hours in your town.

Local news to know

• Soneja wildfire still burning in Castellón. A wildfire in Soneja, in Castellón province, remains active after scorching 150 hectares and forcing 500 residents from their homes, with more than 220 ground crew and drones fighting the flames, according to Libertad Digital.
• Valencia to shut monuments for Wednesday's heat. Valencia city hall will close monuments, the Devesa and street markets and suspend outdoor activities on Wednesday 19 August as temperatures top 40°C in the city, Valencia Bonita reports.
• Wednesday's closures listed, pools open until 9pm. Valencia is bracing for up to 43°C in the city and will keep its municipal pools open until 9pm while shutting other sites, according to Valencia Extra.
• Sagunto set for 43°C under red heat alert. The 112 emergency service has activated a red heat warning for the northern coast of Valencia, including Sagunto, where highs could reach 43°C on Wednesday 19 August, Valencia Extra reports.

Tonight and tomorrow, Valencia

• OBK and Cara B play Xàtiva tonight. The 1980s revival act OBK, alongside Cara B, headlines a busy evening of concerts, theatre and sainetes at the Fira d'Agost in Xàtiva tonight, Tuesday 18 August, at the La Murta municipal ground, according to Levante-EMV.

See the full agenda, tonight and tomorrow