Storms have battered parts of Spain bringing extreme flooding especially to Barcelona and the northeast where a boy has died and his dad is missing after their car was swept away
A boy has died and his father is missing following terrifying floods in a popular area of Spain for British tourists that has caused travel chaos with flights delayed or cancelled.
Storms have brought heavy rain and flooding across Spain with the Cataluna region in the northeast worst affected. The national weather agency Aemet has recorded up to 20 litres of rainfall falling per hour with a yellow warning currently in place. Tragically the body of a boy, believed to be aged 11 or 12, has been found in the flooded River Anoia by the town of Sant Pere de Riudebitlles, near Barcelona.
Catalan Minister of the Interior, Núria Parlon, confirmed that emergency services had found the boy on Sunday and that a search is ongoing for the father, with the names not released.
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Local media reports witnesses saying that the car continued down a road which was flooded. Rescue teams are now “covering zone by zone” the area in order to find the father.
It is believed that the man could have been swept some distance by the 2.5m high floods in the river which is normally a dry riverbed.
At the same time, emergency services have been inundated by people in difficulty having received up to 600 calls and 27 people had to be rescued after becoming trapped at a funicular that takes visitors to the Montserrat Monastery on the outskirts of Barcelona. They became stuck due to a landslide in the area which has received around 100 litres of rainfall.
Catalan Fire Brigade, José Luis López, explained to TVE that they have had “many calls in the last hour, almost 90 across Cataluna, especially in the western and the metropolitan area.”
Transport chaos has led to flights being delayed or cancelled from Barcelona Airport and it was a similar situation for trains in the Cataluna region.
And 50 people, including babies, were stuck in a train due to fallen trees. A statement from the fire service read: “In Castellbell i el Vilar, seven (…) crews are working to remove trees and clear the way for the stopped train.
“Due to the weather conditions, it is considered the better option than having the passengers disembark, about 50 people including children and babies.”
Civil Protection has urged “extreme caution” and to avoid travelling near rivers and flood zones, given that waters are significant higher than normal. The alerts for the Cataluna region remain in place until 2am on Tuesday.