Tornado hits Marbella as residents tie down cars amid more flood alerts

Jorge Cortes/X

Marbella has been hit by a tornado as residents on Spain’s Costa del Sol rushed to save their cars by tying them to lamp posts amid further flood warnings in the region.

Three waterspouts were seen twisting across the surface of the sea, with one making landfall in the coastal city and destroying property, footage posted on social media showed.

Thousands of people were evacuated from their homes in the Malaga province, which includes Marbella, Velez and Estepona, on Tuesday evening as the area braced for an extreme storm known as Dana.

It came just two weeks after the Valencia region, to the north-east, was ravaged by the worst flooding in Spain’s modern history, killing at least 220 people.

The city of Malaga also flooded on Wednesday as the Guadalmedina River was overwhelmed by heavy rainfall. In one hour in the morning, 78 millimetres of rain fell in the city centre.

Videos showed fast-flowing muddy water rushing down streets, washing away motorbikes and partially submerging cars as residents waded through waist-high floods, with more rain expected.

Ahead of the storm’s arrival, some residents attempted to protect their vehicles with DIY methods. Images posted on social media showed cars wrapped in layers of plastic and attached to breeze blocks and lamp posts.

On Wednesday evening, Spain’s Aemet meteorological agency placed the coastal areas of Valencia, including the worst-affected areas from the previous floods, on a red alert for heavy rainfall.

Valencia’s regional government quickly sent a text message alert to the population in those areas saying that schools, sporting facilities and daycare centres would be closed on Thursday. It also said the use of private vehicles was now “restricted”.

Catalonia, in the north-east – particularly the coast near Tarragona – was also on red alert on Wednesday as it braced for expected torrential rain.

Schools across the province of Malaga were closed on Wednesday, while all train services were suspended. Strong winds and rain also caused the re-routing of several flights that had been scheduled to land at Malaga airport.

There were no immediate reports of any casualties as a result of the latest flooding.

The Civil Protection Agency for Malaga province also sent out alerts in Spanish and English to all mobile phones in the area on Tuesday night, telling people to avoid leaving their homes on Wednesday if possible.

Malaga’s capital and coast are flanked to the north by steep hilly areas, where rivers can quickly become raging torrents in heavy rainstorms.

The fast response from officials comes in contrast to the lack of preventive action taken by Valencia’s regional authorities on the eve of the Oct 29 disaster. There were no generalised closures, and a mobile phone alert was issued only once the fatal flooding had begun.

“Our aim is to avoid people travelling,” Juanma Moreno, Andalusia’s regional president, said on Wednesday. His comments come after dozens of people died in the earlier floods after being swept away while driving.

During the Oct 29 rainstorms, a 71-year-old British man died of a cardiac arrest after being rescued from his home in Alhaurin de la Torre, near Malaga.