SmogRank / Episodes / Spain

Northern Spain and Portugal, February 2023

For 4 days, from 2 to 5 February 2023, 9 cities in Spain and Portugal had PM2.5 at least twice their usual for the time of year. The worst reading was Bailén, Andalusia, Spain: 57.0 µg/m³ on 5 February, about 3.9× its usual 14.7.

No cause namedWe have no fire or smoke records for these days, so we only say what the measurements show.
Cities reached9in 2 countries
Days42 to 5 February 2023
Worst day4 February7 cities counted
Furthest above usual4.2×Amora

Day by day

4 February 7 cities at twice their usual or more
ToledoCollado-VillalbaMóstolesSalamancaMadridCosladaTorrejón de ArdozAlgeteValladolidAlcalá de HenaresAzuqueca de HenaresPuertollanoPalenciaBurgosLeónJaénCuencaSamaAlbaceteGranadaOviedoGasteiz / VitoriaLaudio / LlodioHuelvaCalahorraBilbaoOurenseGetxoAmorebietaDurangoTudelaBermeoLalínZarautzOriaHernaniDonostia / San SebastiánZaragozaVillenaPontevedraFaroEldaTeoTorrentLisbonOntinyentCorroiosSantiago de CompostelaValenciaCacémOndaSaguntoGrao de MurviedroCartagenaA CoruñaArteixoAlicanteBurrianaCastelló de la PlanaBenicàssimPauLourdesTarbesSevillaTorreviejaVigoLugoCiudad RealValdemoroParedesBailénAmora
30 Jan311 Feb2345678
Every measured city in the area, coloured by its PM2.5 that day; a dark ring marks a city at twice its usual or more. Bars: cities counted each day, coloured by their median level. Choose a day or press play; without JavaScript, the days link to that day's world ranking.

How it spread

BailénBailén, 30 January: no readingBailén, 31 January: no readingBailén, 1 February: 36.4 µg/m³Bailén, 2 February: 47.6 µg/m³, 3.2× its usual 14.9Bailén, 3 February: 39.6 µg/m³, 2.7× its usual 14.9Bailén, 4 February: 36.5 µg/m³, 2.4× its usual 14.9Bailén, 5 February: 57.0 µg/m³, 3.9× its usual 14.7Bailén, 6 February: 33.8 µg/m³Bailén, 7 February: 11.4 µg/m³Bailén, 8 February: 12.0 µg/m³AmoraAmora, 30 January: no readingAmora, 31 January: no readingAmora, 1 February: 40.8 µg/m³Amora, 2 February: 45.1 µg/m³, 4.2× its usual 10.7Amora, 3 February: 41.6 µg/m³, 3.8× its usual 10.9Amora, 4 February: 34.3 µg/m³, 3.1× its usual 11.0Amora, 5 February: 33.3 µg/m³, 3.0× its usual 11.0Amora, 6 February: 17.5 µg/m³Amora, 7 February: 10.1 µg/m³Amora, 8 February: 10.6 µg/m³Ciudad RealCiudad Real, 30 January: no readingCiudad Real, 31 January: no readingCiudad Real, 1 February: no readingCiudad Real, 2 February: 30.6 µg/m³, 3.2× its usual 9.6Ciudad Real, 3 February: no readingCiudad Real, 4 February: 16.5 µg/m³Ciudad Real, 5 February: 16.7 µg/m³Ciudad Real, 6 February: 23.3 µg/m³Ciudad Real, 7 February: 5.2 µg/m³Ciudad Real, 8 February: 8.7 µg/m³SevillaSevilla, 30 January: no readingSevilla, 31 January: no readingSevilla, 1 February: 23.9 µg/m³Sevilla, 2 February: 27.9 µg/m³, 2.4× its usual 11.7Sevilla, 3 February: 25.4 µg/m³, 2.2× its usual 11.7Sevilla, 4 February: 27.5 µg/m³, 2.4× its usual 11.5Sevilla, 5 February: 27.0 µg/m³, 2.5× its usual 10.6Sevilla, 6 February: 16.3 µg/m³Sevilla, 7 February: 10.0 µg/m³Sevilla, 8 February: 10.4 µg/m³ValdemoroValdemoro, 30 January: no readingValdemoro, 31 January: no readingValdemoro, 1 February: no readingValdemoro, 2 February: 27.7 µg/m³, 2.6× its usual 10.5Valdemoro, 3 February: 32.8 µg/m³, 3.2× its usual 10.3Valdemoro, 4 February: 32.6 µg/m³, 3.2× its usual 10.1Valdemoro, 5 February: 18.0 µg/m³Valdemoro, 6 February: 16.0 µg/m³Valdemoro, 7 February: 12.1 µg/m³Valdemoro, 8 February: 8.2 µg/m³TorreviejaTorrevieja, 30 January: no readingTorrevieja, 31 January: no readingTorrevieja, 1 February: no readingTorrevieja, 2 February: 25.0 µg/m³, 2.6× its usual 9.5Torrevieja, 3 February: 25.2 µg/m³, 2.7× its usual 9.5Torrevieja, 4 February: 21.8 µg/m³Torrevieja, 5 February: 19.5 µg/m³Torrevieja, 6 February: 16.1 µg/m³Torrevieja, 7 February: 10.2 µg/m³Torrevieja, 8 February: 14.5 µg/m³ParedesParedes, 30 January: no readingParedes, 31 January: no readingParedes, 1 February: no readingParedes, 2 February: no readingParedes, 3 February: no readingParedes, 4 February: 55.3 µg/m³, 3.4× its usual 16.3Paredes, 5 February: 41.2 µg/m³, 2.4× its usual 17.1Paredes, 6 February: 15.0 µg/m³Paredes, 7 February: 24.2 µg/m³Paredes, 8 February: 9.3 µg/m³VigoVigo, 30 January: no readingVigo, 31 January: no readingVigo, 1 February: 29.5 µg/m³Vigo, 2 February: 29.7 µg/m³Vigo, 3 February: 31.8 µg/m³Vigo, 4 February: 37.3 µg/m³, 3.1× its usual 12.1Vigo, 5 February: 27.7 µg/m³, 2.3× its usual 12.1Vigo, 6 February: 25.0 µg/m³Vigo, 7 February: 13.8 µg/m³Vigo, 8 February: 8.7 µg/m³LugoLugo, 30 January: no readingLugo, 31 January: no readingLugo, 1 February: 17.9 µg/m³Lugo, 2 February: 20.0 µg/m³Lugo, 3 February: 32.3 µg/m³Lugo, 4 February: 26.4 µg/m³, 3.2× its usual 8.3Lugo, 5 February: 14.1 µg/m³Lugo, 6 February: 13.7 µg/m³Lugo, 7 February: 10.2 µg/m³Lugo, 8 February: 9.6 µg/m³30 Jan311 Feb2345678
Every counted city, in the order the episode reached them, 3 days before to 3 after. Each square is a day, coloured by that day's PM2.5; outlined: at twice the city's usual or more.
Good0–50
Moderate51–100
Sensitive groups101–150
Unhealthy151–200
Very unhealthy201–300
Hazardous301+

Every city it reached

CityDaysHighestUsualAbove usual
AmoraSetúbal, Portugal4 45.12 February10.74.2×
BailénAndalusia, Spain4 57.05 February14.73.9×
ParedesPorto, Portugal2 55.34 February16.33.4×
ValdemoroMadrid, Spain3 32.83 February10.33.2×
Ciudad RealCastille-La Mancha, Spain1 30.62 February9.63.2×
LugoGalicia, Spain1 26.44 February8.33.2×
VigoGalicia, Spain2 37.34 February12.13.1×
TorreviejaValencia, Spain2 25.23 February9.52.7×
SevillaAndalusia, Spain4 27.92 February11.72.4×

Daily means in µg/m³, over the days each city counted in this episode. Highest: its highest of those days. Usual: the city's median for the time of year of that day (its days within 21 days of the date, every year, leaving out the week around it). Above usual: its highest day against that, with a usual under 5 µg/m³ taken as 5.

Against other episodes in Spain and Portugal

Number 32 of 34 episodes in Spain and Portugal since our records began, by cities reached.

Bars: cities reached; colour: the level of the episode's highest daily reading. All 34.

Use this page

SmogRank, Northern Spain and Portugal, February 2023: 9 cities with PM2.5 at twice their usual or more, 2 to 5 February 2023, smogrank.com/episodes/2023-02-northern-spain-and-portugal (accessed 4 October 2026).

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You're welcome to reuse a single chart, image or figure with this citation and a link. Terms.

An episode is a run of days when many cities close to each other (four or more within 350 km on a day, 8 or more in all) each had a daily PM2.5 mean of at least 25 µg/m³ and at least 2 times their usual for that time of year. Found in our own measurements, not picked by hand. How we find episodes. Values are each city's daily mean of its own monitors; causes are the usual kinds for a pattern like this, not a confirmed source.