In Spain, the coast near Valencia placed on “red alert” for rain

The Spanish Meteorological Agency (Aemet) placed this Wednesday, November 13, the coast near Valencia in “red alert” to the rains, two weeks after the deadly floods which affected the region.

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“The danger is extreme. Avoid travel. River overflows and flooding may occur »warned Aemet on X. The alert is activated from 9 p.m. until 12 p.m. Thursday.

Up to 180 millimeters of rain could fall in twelve hours on the Valencia coast, according to Aemet forecasts. Traffic restrictions have been issued in areas already affected by the floods of October 29 which left at least 223 dead. Rail traffic between Barcelona and Valencia has also been suspended, announced the national operator Renfe.

The provinces of Malaga and Tarragona also on red alert

The meteorological agency also issued a red alert this Wednesday in the provinces of Malaga (Andalusia, south) and Tarragona (Catalonia, northeast), due to this news “cold drop”an isolated high-altitude depression quite common in autumn on the Spanish Mediterranean coast.

“Today, Malaga is paralyzed”declared the president of the Andalusia region Juan Manuel Moreno during the day, during a trip to Seville. “Prevention is better than cure, we saw it in Valencia”insisted the president of the region.

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In Malaga, where several roads were flooded, the metro was closed, the train line to Madrid was suspended and flights were diverted. The municipality evacuated nearly 3,000 people “preventively”.

“Everything is going well since we were warned last night”told AFP Ida Maria Ledesma Martin, resident of Campanillas, near Malaga: “This morning, around 10 a.m., police officers went through the streets to warn everyone, the deployment is very good and I think it is not exaggerated at all. »

“Exceptional intensity”

In Andalusia and Catalonia, where the provinces placed on red alert of Malaga and Tarragona are located, the authorities had for their part anticipated the possible consequences of heavy rains by sending alert messages to mobile phones, the reception of which causes a loud beep.

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The authorities in Valencia were strongly criticized for sending this warning message late on October 29. Indignation against the authorities, accused of having poorly assessed the risks and of having delayed too long in the deployment of relief, gave rise to massive demonstrations on Saturday, the largest of which brought together 130,000 people in the city ​​of Valencia.

The red alert issued by Aemet, corresponding to meteorological phenomena “of exceptional intensity” presenting “a very high level of risk for the population”also led the authorities to suspend classes this Wednesday in part of Catalonia and in Andalusian cities such as Granada and Malaga.

In this city, bad weather also led to the postponement to Friday of a match between Spain and Poland as part of the Billie Jean King Cup in women's tennis, which was to be played this Wednesday afternoon.