The Spanish government is defending the National Meteorological Service, which has been the target of a flood of abuse and threats, accused of climate “conspiracy”, as Spain is hit by unusually high temperatures and a record drought.

“Murderers”, “criminals”, “we are watching you”, “you will pay” are some of the anonymous messages that the public service Aemet has received in recent weeks on social media, by mail or by phone.

The threats are linked to the forecasts and analyzes published by the service and mainly those related to the premature heat wave that Spain experienced last week during which record high temperatures were recorded for the month of Aprilwhich reached 38.8 degrees Celsius in Cordoba.

Taking up Aemet’s defense, Ecological Transition Minister Teresa Ribera called for a crackdown on this behavior on Twitter. “Lies, conspiracy and fear-mongering, insults…these impoverish our society.”

In a video posted on April 20 on Twitter, Aemet denounced the resurgence of violence on social media, asking for “respect” for its employees. “We respect freedom of expression,” but “not everything can be allowed,” he warned.

With her statements to the newspaper El Diario, one of the representatives of the service, Estreya Gutierrez, a member of the Supreme Council of Spanish Meteorologists, clarifies that she has never encountered such a level of aggression during her thirty-year career.

“We are a public utility, we have highly skilled and trained staff and we continue to work professionally,” insists the meteorologist, denouncing the river of fake information and climate change negativity on social media.

“Climate change is a reality. The latest report by the GIEC (IPCC, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), and other organizations before it, concludes that climate change is causing us episodes of higher temperatures, and that’s what we’re seeing right now.”

At the forefront of warming, Spain has been experiencing for several years a proliferation of heat waves and increasingly less and irregular rainfall. According to the UN, 75% of the country faces the risk of desertification.