Alex Trelinski
STORM Juliette has left significant amounts and rain and snow in the Balaeric Islands with power cuts and closed roads causing problems in Mallorca, which took the brunt of the bad weather.
Authorities are also dealing with two sinkholes that appeared in Palma.
The State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) has maintained a red warning for parts of Mallorca on Tuesday.
The most notable snowfalls in Spain on Monday were on Mallorca with snow coming down at heights close to sea level in municipalities like Santanyi on the south-west of the island.
The heavy snowfall in the Sierra de Tramuntana area forced the closure of 15 roads.
The Consell de Mallorca’s roads department sent a warning early on Tuesday morning given the difficult situation of the roads in the Levante area of the island, with flooded routes in Montuirii, Campos, Felanitx and Arta.
The rain has also caused the overflow of six channels, which could not withstand the storm water in recent hours.
Snow also caused power to be cut off in a dozen towns and urban centres, such as Alaro, Vilafranca, Valldemossa and the Port d’Alcudia.
Throughout Monday, the town of Valldemossa, 400 meters above sea level, suffered problems in the electricity supply and access, with vehicles having to be be driven carefully due to the accumulations of snow that started setting at noon.
The heavy rains that fell during the night in Palma caused subsidence in the Avenues area of the city.
The sinkhole, about eight meters in diameter, caused traffic to be cut in heading towards Avenida Alemania and the Plaza de España, with a single lane open for buses and emergency vehicles.
In the opposite direction, one of the three lanes has been closed.
Municipal water and sewerage company Emaya and the infrastructure service have been on site working to restore normal access.
Another sinkhole opened up on Avenida Gabriel Roca Avenue at Pacha, with police diverting traffic to Porto Pi until normal service.
Municipal buses have been running normally with only two diversions caused by falling trees.
The Balearic Islands government has urged residents to avoid unnecessary travel and events have been suspended for Wednesday’s Balearic Islands Day, including the fair in the Paseo Sagrera.
Most schools did not have classes anyway on Tuesday because of the holiday bridge day.
