Tourists on Gran Canaria have been warned to stay indoors following flooding, which has seen piles of mud and dirt cover streets and drag cars under bridges and into the sea
Holiday island Gran Canaria has endured massive flooding – with cars being dragged into the sea.
Tourists have been warned to stay indoors because rising water levels are posing a severe hazard across the island, known for its white sand beaches.
The approximate 850,000 residents – 40 per cent of the total population of the Canary Island archipelago – have been rocked by the floods, which have seen piles of mud and dirt cover streets and cars get dragged under bridges.
Pictures shared on social media show brown water aggresively stream through Gran Canaria, which is rural and mountainous. Water on higher ground has trickled downwards to the more densely populated areas, including those in the south popular with tourists.
One video shows a car being rapidly swept tens of metres into the sea as strong rain hits the island. In another clip, a car is caught up in the swell before it is flushed down the road and out of view.
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A state of “pre-alert” was issued by authorities across all of the Canary Islands on Saturday March 1, as the torrential rain hit the archipelago at the weekend. On Monday, Aemet, Spain’s national weather agency issued a red alert across Gran Canaria as the weather is set to continue this week.
While some cars were dragged into the sea by the aggressive floods, others lay vertical, stuck or destroyed. Bollards rattled and bins were also swept away by the heavy streams. A number of vehicles were dragged into the Las Bachilleras ravine.
A clean-up operation began as residents and firefighters picked up shovels and brushes to clear mounds of mud in the streets and houses of the badly affected Salinetas neighborhood in Telde.
But local news website Canaria Weekly said that emergency services remain on “high alert” and authorities have warned people, including tourists, to avoid unnecessary travel.
In Tenerife, at least 80 people were trapped in a supermarket amid flooding recently. In Valencia, on the mainland, a red alert has also been issued with schools closed across the region as a safety precaution.
