Beating the heat: Spain bans AC from dropping below 27°C

Europe, Aug 05: As Spain grapples with worst heatwave conditions, the Spanish government has come up with a new rule mandating that air conditioning be set at or above 27 degrees Celsius in public areas.

Public and ommercial places like offices, shops, bars, theatres, airports, and train stations have been asked to keep the AC temperatures at or above 27° Celsius.

The decree was published in the official state gazette on Tuesday morning and the fresh directives will go into effect starting next week. The rules also include maintaining the calefaction at or below 19° Celsius and these measures are set to remain in place at least till November 2023.

The new rules are recommended to be extended to households as well in the coming days.

The move is seen an attempt to tackle the soaring energy prices in the country and reduce its dependence on Russian gas.

"It is part of plans to cut the country's energy consumption and limit dependency on Russian gas. The decree, published on Tuesday morning, will also stop heating from being raised above 19°C during the winter," Euronews report said.

Notably, Spain is the latest country to come with such a ruling. Earlier, Greece and Italy announced similar measures last month.