Weather agency issues red alert as much of Spain battered by rain and storms

MUCH OF Spain was being battered by heavy rainfall and storms on Sunday, as well as the Balearic Islands. The country’s state weather agency, Aemet, issued a fresh warning on Sunday due to the extreme conditions, with Madrid in particular on red alert from 12pm to midnight.

The Madrid region’s emergency services recommended that residents returning from their vacations today come back early in order to avoid the worst of the weather on the roads.

On Sunday morning, Madrid City Hall announced that it was closing the Retiro park as well as other green spaces due to the danger caused by the extreme conditions.

The Madrid mayor, Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida, called on Madrileños to stay at home on Sunday afternoon and avoid all non-essential travel.

“This is an exceptional situation, the historical record of rainfall in the capital is going to be broken,” he said at a press conference on Sunday morning.

In Valencia region, motorists were left trapped in their cars due to flooding in the municipalities of Torrent and Benifaió, while in Valencia city there were interruptions to Line 2 of the Metro system because of the heavy rain.

The bad weather was also causing delays to flights from the Balearic Islands today, according to news agency Europa Press, with an average wait time of 50 minutes in Palma.

Meanwhile, a section of the AP-7 motorway between Vinaros in Castellón province and Amposta in Tarragona had to be closed due to flooding caused by the rains. By Sunday morning traffic was flowing freely once more.

A total of 60 incidents were reported to the 112 emergency services in Seville province thanks to the rain and storms, mostly in Seville city.

The bad weather is being caused by what is known in Spanish as a DANA, an acronym that stands for an ‘isolated depression at high levels’.

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