Schools shut, thousands evacuated as Spain braces for fresh floods

MÃLAGA, Spain: Spain evacuated thousands of residents and closed schools on Wednesday as torrential rains lashed the country two weeks after its worst floods in a generation killed more than 220 people.

National weather office AEMET placed the southern province of Malaga and the northeastern Catalonia region on red alert -- the highest level -- for strong rains expected to last until Friday.

It forecasts up to 180 millimetres of rain could fall there in just 12 hours, while less severe downpours struck the eastern Valencia region already devastated by the floods.

Emergency services in the southern Andalusia region said more than 1,000 homes and almost 3,000 residents had been evacuated in and around the city of Malaga.

Footage on social media showed Malaga´s normally bustling commercial centre deserted and cars ploughing through rising water that had submerged roads.

Ester Espinosa, a 47-year-old resident of Malaga´s Campanillas suburb, told AFP residents were erecting a barricade to fend off the water.

“It hasn´t been exaggerated at all,” added Ida Maria Ledesma Martin, a 39-year-old social educator who said police had warned residents that morning. The high-speed line connecting Madrid and Malaga as well as regional services were suspended, national railway operator Renfe said, while the local metro was shut. Malaga airport cancelled one flight and diverted five others, operator Aena wrote on X. Local television images showed its entrance had been inundated.

The start of the Billie Jean King Cup tennis finals between Spain and Poland in Malaga was also postponed.

“Today Malaga is paralysed... if there is intense rain in a short period of time, there are no capacities or infrastructure that can cope,” the Andalusia region´s leader Juanma Moreno told reporters.