Spanish emergency services on Thursday recovered the body of a man swept away by a swollen river near Barcelona, as torrential rain and flash flooding battered the country’s Mediterranean coastline. The death came as authorities urged residents across Catalonia and the Valencia region to avoid all unnecessary travel and to exercise extreme caution.
The downpours struck just days after Spain emerged from an exceptionally hot start to September, following a summer that shattered temperature records, according to the national meteorological agency Aemet.
Body Found After Car Swept Away
Catalan firefighters said on social media that they had located the body of a man in the village of Olivella, roughly 40 kilometers west of Barcelona, correcting an earlier civil protection report that had referred to a missing woman. The man had been driving a car that was carried away by a watercourse, the firefighters said.
Aemet had issued heavy-rain warnings for eastern Spain on Wednesday, briefly raising a red alert — its highest level — for Barcelona because of the risk of sudden flooding.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez described the situation on social media as “very complicated” as emergency crews responded to a wave of weather-related incidents.
Transport Disrupted Across Catalonia
In Barcelona, flooded streets forced the closure of several metro stations and the diversion of bus routes. Regional rail services were also disrupted, and flights were delayed or canceled at Barcelona-El Prat airport, Spain’s second-busiest.
Catalan emergency services said they had received more than 850 calls linked to the severe weather, which triggered over 500 incidents.
Valencia Records Extreme Rainfall
In the neighboring Valencia region — still scarred by the catastrophic floods of 2024 that killed more than 230 people — the meteorological monitoring body Avamet recorded more than 70 millimeters of rain in just half an hour in several municipalities.
“We have rarely seen rainfall accumulations in 30 minutes as high as those recorded today in Valencia and its surroundings,” Avamet said on social media.
Emergency services reported 478 incidents in the province of Valencia, mainly involving property damage, water leaks and traffic disruptions.
- One person confirmed dead near Barcelona after a vehicle was swept away by floodwater.
- A red alert was briefly issued for Barcelona over flash-flood risk.
- Metro stations closed, buses diverted and flights delayed or canceled at Barcelona-El Prat airport.
- More than 850 emergency calls and over 500 incidents recorded in Catalonia.
- Valencia sees over 70 mm of rain in 30 minutes in some areas, with 478 incidents reported.
The storms mark a dramatic swing in Spain’s weather, arriving on the heels of record-breaking heat. Aemet recently recorded 45.7°C in Andalusia, the highest temperature ever logged in the country for the month of September.
