Flooding in Catalonia kills two as Spain issues extreme danger warnings
Torrential rain in northeastern Spain has killed two people and left at least one missing, while authorities warned of extreme danger in parts of Barcelona and Girona. Flooding disrupted transport, closed businesses and forced emergency crews to rescue people from submerged vehicles.
Two people have died and at least one remains missing after torrential rain caused flooding in Spain’s northeastern Catalonia region. One person died when a wall collapsed at a campsite in Tordera, north of Barcelona. Another drowned in a flooded garage in Montornes del Valles, according to Catalan firefighters.
Emergency services were searching for a missing person in Pineda de Mar. Authorities warned of extreme danger in parts of Barcelona and Girona as rivers threatened to overflow. Residents near the Besos River were told to move to upper floors if flooding occurred, while regional leader Salvador Illa urged people to follow emergency instructions.
Spain’s AEMET weather agency said more than 100 millimetres of rain fell overnight in numerous locations. Homes were flooded and vehicles submerged in towns near Barcelona, while emergency crews rescued people trapped in cars in Granollers and other communities. Rail services were disrupted, and flights at Barcelona airport were cancelled or delayed.
Shops closed early, and sporting and cultural events were called off as authorities responded to the weather. The storms were linked to a DANA, a weather phenomenon in which cold air high in the atmosphere meets warm, moisture-laden air from the Mediterranean. The combination can produce intense thunderstorms, with Spain’s mountains helping force moist air upwards.
The flooding occurred almost two years after a DANA-related disaster in eastern Spain killed 238 people, mostly in Valencia, in October 2024. A later study found that human-caused climate change intensified rainfall during that event, but the source material says a separate analysis would be needed to assess the latest Catalonia storms.
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