Wind, rain and snow won’t stop tourists from gallivanting across Europe, but heat just might.
Temperatures across the continent are soaring as the region has been suffering from a record-breaking heat wave, with some of the highest readings clocking in at around 115°F near Mora, Portugal, according to the country’s weather agency IPMA.
Intense sun and abnormally high temperatures over the past several days have caused environmental damage, fatalities and standstills.
Italy has seen a 15-20% uptick in hospital admissions as a result of symptoms related to excessive heat, and several people in the country have died of heatstroke.
Though the tourism industry makes up a “vital 10%” of the European Union’s total GDP, per EU Parliament 2025 reports, several popular landmarks, monuments and destinations have been closed as a result of unmanageable summer heat.
One such locale was Paris’ iconic Eiffel Tower, which closed on July 1 and July 2 for “the comfort and safety of visitors and staff,” according to its website, since temperature highs reached 104 degrees on Tuesday.
While the shuttering of the famous stop’s iconic summit was a sore spot for many tourists, decks on the first and second floors of the tower remained open for ticketholders.
Other visitors simply weren’t fussed, and took a short trek across the Seine river to the Trocadéro to take in the view while cooling off with a dip in the massive fountain.
Though victims of the heatwave were able to seek respite in pools, fountains and mountain lakes in some regions, others weren’t so fortunate.
The Mediterranean is experiencing its own marine heat wave, and when coupled with the general heat dome stretching across the rest of the continent — beachgoers in Spain, Greece and southern France are simply out of luck.
“With water surface temperatures from 26-30 °C [78-86 °F], it is difficult for our nights to be refreshing,” Rámon Pascual, a representative for the Spanish weather service in Barcelona, told The Associated Press.
Locals of many popular European travel destinations have voiced concerns about ‘overtourism’ in recent years, and alarmed activists have begun staging protests — including one especially prominent one back in April that seized global headlines, where Barcelona demonstrators shot water pistols at tourist-packed buses and attractions.
Given how resource scarcity has been exacerbated by tourist presence during difficult infrastructural periods like the current heatwave, and annually recurring temperature increases, it seems more instability and uncertainty are to come.
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