Two people have died and one is missing near Barcelona due to torrential rains in the northeastern Spanish province, authorities said on Sunday, warning that the extreme weather was moving north to the neighbouring province of Girona.
They warned of flooding in Girona — between Barcelona and the border with southwestern France — urging residents to stay at home in areas around the Ridaura and Daro rivers, which had burst their banks.
Persistent downpours and storms this weekend have battered eastern Spain and parts of the central region of Castilla-La Mancha, where a 102-year-old woman died as a result on Saturday.
The Spanish Meteorological Office (AEMET) said the storms had begun to ease in the Barcelona region around midday on Sunday but were moving northwards.
“There are two fatalities and at least one person missing,” David Borrell, head of the Catalonia region’s fire service, told a press conference.
One person died when a wall at a campsite in Tordera collapsed and the other drowned in a flooded garage in Montornes del Valles — both towns in Barcelona province in northeastern Spain.
Overnight, rescue services assisted several people trapped in their vehicles due to flooding on the streets in Granollers, north of Barcelona, and elsewhere.
Authorities have cancelled public events in the most high-risk areas.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Sunday the situation in Catalonia remained “very complicated”.
He urged locals to “avoid non-essential journeys” and follow instructions given by the emergency services, reiterating advice given by Catalonia regional leader Salvador Illa.
Rescue services said more than 200 millimetres (more than eight inches) of rain had been recorded in several locations in the Barcelona region.
Scientists say human-driven climate change is intensifying the Mediterranean storms that typically pummel eastern Spain in autumn because the sea is absorbing increasing heat during the summer, leading to greater evaporation and heavier rainfall.
