In southern Spain, emergency teams continued their search on Tuesday for a couple whose vehicle was swept away by flash floods. The escalating waters triggered the evacuation of hundreds of homes, and local authorities issued road closures and canceled school classes as precautionary measures.
Juanma Moreno Bonilla, president of the Andalusia region, reported that the couple’s off-road vehicle was carried off by floods while they were traveling across their property in Constantina. “Their vehicle overturned when crossing a stream and the current took it away,” he stated, emphasizing the need for residents to remain cautious, noting that danger often goes unnoticed until it’s too late.
In response to the floods, 365 houses in Campanillas, a village near Malaga, were evacuated. This action was prompted by a river breaching its banks nearby, forcing residents to spend the night in a local sports facility set up as an emergency shelter.
Antonio Sanz, the interior chief for Andalusia, pointed out that 19 rivers within the region were on high flood alert. The severe weather, initially affecting the coastal city of Malaga, has spread to areas near Seville and Cordoba. Consequently, 40 highways and some rail services in Andalusia were disrupted due to the dangerous water levels.
Emergency services were inundated with calls, responding to numerous requests for help across the region. In one instance, the Civil Guard intervened to save two dogs from drowning in muddy floodwaters, an event documented in a video shared by the police.
This area in Malaga experienced a similar situation last November, when widespread heavy rains led to severe flooding further east in Spain, particularly in Valencia, resulting in the tragic loss of 233 lives.
Following years of prolonged drought, southern Spain has seen substantial rainfall over the past fortnight, overwhelming natural and man-made barriers including reservoirs and riverbanks. These dramatic shifts between extreme droughts and floods are said to be influenced by climate change, which has also intensified summer heatwaves in the country.
