Barcelona on ‘extreme danger’ red alert as airport flooding cancels flights

An Iberia Airlines plane ploughs through floodwater at Barcelona airport
An Iberia Airlines plane ploughs through floodwater at Barcelona airport

Barcelona was given a new red alert warning of “extreme danger” on Monday, with the city being hit by rainstorms and floods, causing chaos for road, train and air traffic.

Catalonia’s regional government warned of “continuous and torrential” rain across the Barcelona metropolitan area and surrounding areas six days after flash floods devastated the Valencia region, killing more than 200 people.

Residents were asked not to travel and to avoid being near rivers, waterways and flood drains.

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Footage showed water flooding tunnels and underpasses, and there are reports of cars being carried away by torrents.

The warning came a day after Pedro Sanchez, Spain’s prime minister, and the country’s king and queen faced the visceral public anger that has been brewing in Paiporta, a town ravaged by last week’s floods in Valencia.

The trio were hit with mud and rocks as they visited the town, causing Mr Sanchez to flee. The Civil Guard is investigating the unprecedented attack.

Meanwhile, dozens of flights at Barcelona’s El Prat airport were cancelled or severely delayed on Monday, with the airport operator Aena advising travellers to check up-to-date information ahead of their journeys.

Videos showed flooding around the entrances to the airports.

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Spain’s Renfe train operator said all regional train services have been cancelled in Catalonia, while several motorways have been closed because of the flooding.

Some schools in the Barcelona area and Tarragona province, which is further down the coast and has also seen heavy rainfall since Sunday night, were closed on Monday.

But where schools did open, Catalonia’s Civil Protection authority asked parents not to attempt to pick up their children after classes. “Schools are a safe place,” a statement said, stressing the need to “avoid mobility”.

Residents across several towns were sent texts from 8.30am, warning that heavy rain would last until 2pm local time. While there has been heavy flooding, the impact is not expected to be as devastating as last week’s floods in Valencia.

Several motorways have been closed because of flooding
Several motorways have been closed because of flooding - Eric Renom/LaPresse/Shutterstock
A lorry trapped in floodwater under a bridge in Barcelona
A lorry trapped in floodwater under a bridge in Barcelona - Eric Renom/LaPresse/Shutterstock

Spain’s state meteorological agency, Aemet, has issued a new red warning for the Barcelona coastline because of an expected cumulative rainfall of 180 litres per square metre in 12 hours.

In Valencia last Tuesday, the regional authorities issued a generalised alert once many areas were already experiencing flooding at about 8pm, sparking anger that red alerts concerning heavy rainfall published by Aemet early that morning had not led to advance warning of the flood threat.

The search for bodies continues in the hard-hit region inside houses and thousands of wrecked cars strewn in the streets, on motorways and in canals.

Motorists attempt to drive their cars through Barcelona's flooded streets
Motorists attempt to drive their cars through the city’s flooded streets

Fernando Grande-Marlaska, Spain’s interior minister, said the authorities still could not give a reliable estimate of the missing after reports that as many as 2,000 people were unaccounted for.

On Monday it was confirmed that a British couple had been found dead in their car after flooding hit their home outside the village of Pedralba, some 25 miles north-west of the city of Valencia.

The bodies of Terry Turner 78, and Don Turner, 74, originally from Staffordshire, were found in their car on Saturday, the couple’s daughter, Ruth O’Loughlin, confirmed to the BBC.

RTVE, the Spanish national television channel, has broadcast pleas for help by several desperate people whose loved ones are unaccounted for.

A police car is left abandoned in the flooded city
A police car is left abandoned in the flooded city

Citizens, volunteers and thousands of soldiers and police officers have pressed on with their clean-up effort to clear out mud and debris.

In the Aldaia municipality, some 50 soldiers, police and firefighters, some wearing wetsuits, searched a huge shopping centre’s underground car park for possible victims.

Anger at the authorities’ handling of the crisis erupted on Sunday when a crowd tossed mud at Spain’s royal couple as they made their first visit to Paiporta, where more than 60 people died.

Fernando Grande-Marlaska, Spain’s interior minister, blamed “marginal groups” for the violence. Mr Sanchez was forced to flee in his government car after being hit on the back with a stick, while the vehicle’s back windows also appeared to be smashed in.

But the royal couple, despite being visibly shaken after being hit with mud, stayed behind and engaged with residents, some crying on their shoulders.

Spain is used to autumn storms that can lead to flooding, but the latest have produced the deadliest flooding in living memory for Spaniards.

The Spanish navy’s Galicia transport vessel arrived in Valencia’s port on Monday, with marines, helicopters and trucks loaded with food and water to help with the relief effort, which included 7,500 soldiers and thousands of police reinforcements.

Experts have questioned the warning systems that failed to alert the population in time and the speed of the response.

“They were saying ‘alert for water’, but they should have said it was a flood,” Teresa Gisbert, 62, said in the destroyed town of Sedavi, adding that she had “lost everything”.