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Torrential rain battered Spain's northeastern Catalonia region on Sunday, unleashing flash floods that trapped motorists in cars and homes across the province of Tarragona.
Emergency services declared the highest red alert as rising waters overwhelmed streets, rail lines, and towns along the Mediterranean coast.
Videos posted on social media showed brown torrents sweeping through La Ràpita, Santa Bàrbara, and Amposta, carrying away vehicles, trash bins, and debris as terrified residents watched from rooftops. Local officials said several people had been rescued from submerged cars and basements, though no deaths or injuries were immediately reported.
"The situation is very tense," Santa Bàrbara Mayor Josep Lluís Gimeno told Catalan broadcaster 3Cat. "Ravines are overflowing and have invaded the entire center of the town, dragging everything in their path."
Catalonia's Civil Protection Agency warned of as much as 180 millimetres of rain within 12 hours, urging residents to stay indoors and avoid travel. Nearly 1,000 emergency calls were logged by evening, according to regional authorities. A measuring station in Mas de Barberans recorded almost 272 millimetres of rainfall over the weekend, one of the heaviest totals in years.
Train services between Barcelona and Valencia were suspended indefinitely as floodwaters damaged portions of the Mediterranean Corridor railway line. In the village of Godall, Mayor Alexis Albiol described the flooding as "a moment of chaos." He told local media that "all the cars near the ravine were swept away and are now scattered throughout the village."
The floods come just a day after heavy rains drenched the nearby Balearic Islands, including Ibiza, which has suffered repeated flooding this month. Meteorologists linked the severe weather to Storm Alice, a Mediterranean system intensified by unusually warm sea temperatures.
Experts warn that climate change, which allows warmer air to hold more moisture, is increasing the frequency and intensity of such flash floods across southern Europe.
