Barcelona affected by heavy rains, searches continue in Valencia

Photo: Manu Fernandez Associated Press Emergency services remove cars from an area affected by flooding in Catarroja, Spain, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024.

Joseph Wilson – Associated Press

Published at 9:04 a.m.

• Europe

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Recurring storms in eastern Spain that caused massive flooding last week and killed at least 217 people, mostly near Valencia, dumped heavy rain on Barcelona on Monday, prompting authorities to suspend commuter rail service.

Spanish Transport Minister Óscar Puente said he was suspending all commuter trains in northeastern Catalonia, a region of eight million people, at the request of civil protection officials.

Cellphones in Barcelona rang with an alert for “extreme and continuous rain” on the southern outskirts of the city. The notice urged people to avoid gorges or canals that are normally dry.

Mr Puente said the rains had forced air traffic controllers to reroute 15 flights at Barcelona airport, on the city’s southern flank.

Several motorways were closed due to the flooding.

Classes were cancelled in Tarragona, a city in southern Catalonia halfway between Barcelona and Valencia, after a red alert for rain was issued.

Search for bodies in Valencia

Meanwhile, in Valencia, searches continue for bodies in homes and thousands of wrecked cars strewn across streets, motorways and canals after the floods from last week.

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Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said authorities still could not give a reliable estimate of the number of missing people. However, Spanish national television RTVE broadcast calls for help from several desperate people whose relatives were missing.

In the municipality of Aldaia, about 50 military, police and firefighters, some wearing diving suits, searched the underground parking lot of a huge shopping mall for possible victims. They used a small boat and floodlights to navigate the vast structure, where vehicles were submerged in at least a meter of murky water.

Police spokesman Ricardo Gutiérrez told reporters that so far, about 50 vehicles have been recovered and no bodies have been found.

The 1,800 underground parking spaces at the Bonaire shopping center quickly filled with water and mud Tuesday and Wednesday as the southern suburbs of Valencia were hit by tsunami-like flooding. The team is using four pumps to pump out the water.

Citizens, volunteers and thousands of soldiers and police officers continued their massive cleanup effort to remove mud and debris.

Many people feel abandoned by the authorities. Their anger erupted Sunday when a mob threw mud at Spain’s royal couple, prime minister and regional leaders during their first visit to Paiporta, where more than 60 people have died and survivors have lost their homes and still have no clean water.

Spain is used to autumn storms that can bring flooding, but the latest ones are the deadliest for Spaniards in recent memory.

Climatologists and meteorologists say the immediate cause of the flooding was an isolated low-pressure storm system that migrated from an unusually wavy and stalled jet stream. The system was likely fed by a record-warm Mediterranean Sea. This system would have settled over the region and triggered the flood.

The Spanish Navy's transport ship “Galicia” arrived Monday at the port of Valencia with soldiers, helicopters and trucks loaded with food and water to help with the relief efforts, which included 7,500 soldiers and thousands of police officers as reinforcements.

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