This increase of 31.96 euros compared with 2025 makes Zaragoza the Spanish city where air-conditioning costs have risen the most. Last year, the estimated cost for a home with these characteristics was 105.17 euros.
HOW MUCH MORE DID HOUSEHOLDS IN ZARAGOZA PAY THIS SUMMER?
The estimated cost of cooling rose by 31.96 euros compared with 2025, reaching 137.14 euros, even though Zaragoza's average maximum temperature fell by 2.4 °C.
Zaragoza recorded the largest increase in air-conditioning costs in Spain and in the northern region, with a rise of nearly 32 euros compared with last summer. It posted the biggest increase among all 20 Spanish cities analyzed and was also the northern city where it cost the most to cool a home this summer.
Although, on average, northern regions paid 26.7% less for cooling than those in the south, Zaragoza stood out as the northern city where air-conditioning costs increased the most this summer.
ELECTRICITY, THE KEY FACTOR BEHIND THE RISE IN COSTS
The increase in spending is not explained solely by hotter weather. In fact, average maximum temperatures in Spain barely changed between the two summers: they rose from 31.8 ºC in 2025 to 32 ºC in 2026, just 0.2 degrees higher.
Even so, cooling a home was considerably more expensive. The estimated cost rose by 15.8% nationwide, an increase far greater than that recorded in temperatures.
The main reason is the price of electricity. The average PVPC rate rose by 14.1%, from 0.1347 euros per kWh in 2025 to 0.1537 euros per kWh in 2026. In other words, much of the additional cost of air conditioning is due to each hour of electricity consumption becoming more expensive.
“The case of Zaragoza shows that the cost of cooling a home does not depend solely on the heat. This summer, the average maximum temperature in our reference fell by 2.4 °C in the city, but the estimated cooling cost increased by 31.96 euros. Nationwide, the PVPC rate rose by 14.1%, which helps explain a large part of this increase,” says Óscar Pacheco, an energy analyst at Papernest.
