NOS News•today, 11:37
After the catastrophic rain showers and floods in Spain last week, heavy rain is expected again today. Now it mainly concerns Catalonia, where the Spanish weather institute has issued an orange code due to heavy rain and hail showers. Last week there were heavy showers in the Valencia region.
The warning applies in particular to the coastal areas of Catalonia. For example, on the coast near the city of Tarragona, about 150 millimeters of rain is expected in twelve hours.
Images published online show the highway south of Barcelona, near the airport, under water. Another big shower passed over there this morning. At least fifteen flights that were supposed to land at Barcelona airport have also been diverted to another airport due to the severe weather, according to the Minister of Transport.
The images show how cars have become stuck in the water:
Last week, the Valencia region in particular was hit hard by heavy rain showers and subsequent devastating floods. The search for victims continues there, including in flooded parking garages and basements that are still full of water. The death toll from the floods stands at 214.
Parking garage
Rescue workers have been trying for days to search a large parking garage of a shopping center west of the city of Valencia. Due to the floods, the underground garage was completely submerged. It is the largest parking garage in Valencia. The underground section has room for 1,700 cars.
According to authorities, there were few cars parked when the garage filled up.
This weekend it became clear that extra soldiers are going to the affected area to help clear the rubble and recover bodies. According to the Spanish Minister of Defense, a total of 7,500 soldiers are deployed today.
Visit king and queen
Yesterday, Spanish King Felipe visited the flood area near Valencia and was pelted with mud, bottles and sticks. The Spanish newspaper El País writes that the king knew that his visit could lead to unrest. Employees of the Spanish royal family had gone to the disaster area in the days before to organize the visit and identify safety risks.
On that basis, they took protests into account, but they did not expect it to get so out of hand. When the king and his entourage walked through the street, an angry crowd shouted “murderer”, “bastard” and “go away”.
This is what it looked like yesterday:
Spanish king pelted with mud when visiting flood area
According to Spanish broadcaster RTVE, the police are now investigating whether far-right groups are partly behind the protests.
“We will not accept radical groups taking advantage of people’s pain and distracting us from what is really important,” Finance Minister Cuadrado wrote. “The government is focusing on what is important and that is supporting the families of the victims and working to rebuild.”
King Felipe himself has now responded to his much-discussed visit to the disaster area. In a video that the Spanish court posted online, he says he understands the anger of the Spaniards who insulted him. He calls it “understandable after what they’ve been through.” The royal couple talked with angry residents for about an hour in total. A planned visit to another affected location was subsequently canceled.
