Schools shut, thousands evacuated as Spain braces for fresh floods

Parts of Spain are bracing for more dangerous flooding on Wednesday as a fresh storm system is set to release huge amounts of rainfall.

The torrential downpours come just 15 days after a storm system triggered catastrophic flooding, killing at least 223 people and devastating the province of Valencia.

Once again, the affected area is under orange alert for heavy rainfall.

In Valencia, dozens of municipalities have cancelled classes.

While the meteorological agency does not predict Valencia will get the worst of this storm, sewage systems are still full of mud from the last floods, which could complicate drainage.

This time, the areas under red alert are around the Malaga and Tarragona regions.

In Malaga, around 3,000 people have been evacuated from their homes on the banks of the Guadalhorce River. The same area also experienced flooding two weeks ago.

Residents of the province of Malaga received cell phone alerts on Tuesday night, warning of an “extreme risk of rainfall” and advising them to avoid travel.

Schools will not open on Wednesday across all of Malaga and the Granada coast. Meanwhile, some roads are being blocked, schools are closing, and rail lines are being cancelled in Tarragona, in the south of Catalonia.

The preventative measures on Wednesday stand in contrast to the lack of an early warning in Valencia two weeks ago.

There, despite being on red alert for rainfall, residents were generally not advised to stay home or seek higher ground until the flooding had already reached catastrophic levels.

Both storm systems were caused by a weather phenomenon known as a Dana in Spain or a “cut-off low.” These occur when low-pressure areas get cut off from the westerly winds of the jet stream. Since they are isolated from the jet stream, they can move slowly and erratically, releasing huge amounts of rain over small areas.

This storm system began affecting Spain on Tuesday and is expected to last until at least Friday, according to Spain’s meteorological agency.

Speaking at COP29 on Tuesday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez linked the intensity of these weather events to climate change. “Climate change kills,” he said, urging more action to reduce greenhouse gases to prevent future natural disasters.

Last week, hundreds of residents of a Valencia suburb particularly badly hit by last week’s deadly floods protested during a visit by Spanish King Felipe and Prime Minister Sanchez, with some throwing mud at them.

Chanting “Murderers, murderers!” they vented pent-up anger over what has been widely perceived by local residents as tardy alerts from the authorities about the dangers of the storm and flooding in the Valencia region, and then a late response by the emergency services when disaster struck.

“It was known and nobody did anything to avoid it,” a young man told the king, who insisted on staying on to talk to the people despite the turmoil, while the prime minister had withdrawn.