Over eight hours on 29 October 2024, more rain fell in parts of the Valencia region in south-eastern Spain than had in the preceding 20 months. Destructive flash floods caused rivers to burst their banks, submerging roads and highways, rail tracks, and citrus-producing land in torrents of muddy water. Valencia, the regional capital and third-largest city in Spain, was particularly badly hit, owing to the passage of the Rambla del Poyo (Chiva ravine) through the metropolis. Houses, bridges, and other structures were destroyed. People were trapped in their homes, vehicles, or on high places. Cars were swept away and piled up on the streets, or were trapped in underground car parks. There were shortages of food and drinking water. Air, road, and rail traffic were disrupted. Power outages left residents without electricity and communication. Most people were asked to stay at home. Emergency kitchens and food stands were set up. Volunteers swept away mud and other debris from the flooded streets.
Meanwhile, the death toll continued to rise. A temporary morgue was set up in a convention centre in Valencia, while search and rescue operations continued. Within a week, 217 bodies had been recovered by the fire services, National Police, Civil Guard, and soldiers from the UME (Emergency Military Unit of the Armed Forces; Unidad Militar de Emergencias).
Anger grew rapidly, much of it directed at Valencia’s regional government, which appears to have been tardy in its response to the catastrophe, only sending flood alerts to mobile phones at 8 PM local time on 29 October advising people to stay at home. AEMET (Agencia Estatal de Meteorologia), Spain’s National State Meteorological Agency, had issued a “maximum red alert” under the Common Alerting Protocol as early as 7 AM on the day. It also transpired that Carlos Mazon, conservative president of the Valencian regional government (Generalitat), had closed down the Valencia Emergency Unit (UVE; Unidad Valenciana de Emergencias) on taking office in 2023, on grounds of inefficiency. UVE had been set up by the previous left-wing government to respond to weather-related emergencies such as the latest flash floods.
On 3 November Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, King Felipe VI, Queen Letizia, and regional president Mazon were heckled and targeted with mud, rocks, eggs, and other projectiles as they visited the southern Valencian suburb of Paiporta, right in the epicentre of the disaster zone. The royal couple appear to have been particularly moved by the victims’ plight, while Mazon and Sanchez made an early exit.
Floods meanwhile spread to Andalucia, Murcia, and Castilla-La Mancha. Heavy rain in Barcelona on 4 November caused further flooding, leading the regional government to cancel trains and flights, and to issue civil protection alerts.
Storms and torrential floods have been a feature of the autumn months along Spain’s Mediterranean coast for centuries. With global warming, such weather events are becoming more frequent, more prolonged, and more severe, alongside droughts, heatwaves, and wildfires. Along the Mediterranean coast, warmer moisture-laden air interacts with cold air moving in from the Arctic, creating unstable high-altitude, low-pressure systems. This weather phenomenon is referred to in Spain as a DANA, an acronym for Depresión Aislada en Niveles Altos (Isolated Depression at High Levels), or as a gota fria (cold drop). Large clouds, which can be likened to “rain bombs”, are soon blown ashore to deposit heavy rainfall.
Local residents, volunteers, and the emergency services have rallied in the aftermath of Spain’s worst flood disaster, but much remains to be done. Meanwhile, the pooled waters pose a risk of infectious disease outbreaks. Damage to local infrastructure will take much time and thought to repair. It must be noted that Valencia is a flood-prone region, drained by several river systems that flow into the Mediterranean, which has received much sediment on this occasion. Reconstruction must include more effective weather alert systems, better flood defences, and smarter flood-resilient rebuilds. The Spanish floods will hopefully also refocus minds and reinforce actions to mitigate the human-mediated climate emergency.
Ashis Banerjee