The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has updated its travel advice for Spain as the country grapples with “severe” weather conditions. This comes in the wake of devastating floods that claimed over 200 lives earlier this month.
Spain is a favourite holiday destination for millions of Brits each year. The Foreign Office is now urging travellers to “check the latest warnings”, as a new alert issued on Gov.uk on Tuesday evening states: “Severe weather and flooding is affecting many areas along the Mediterranean coastline of Spain. In particular, many parts of the Valencia region and Castilla La Mancha continue to be severely affected by recent flooding.
“Journeys may be affected. Check the latest weather warnings from Spain’s meteorological office before you travel and follow instructions from local authorities.”
Meanwhile, Spain’s meteorological agency AEMET announced on Thursday morning, November 14: “Red warnings have been deactivated in the provinces of Malaga and Valencia. Orange warnings (significant danger) remain active due to very heavy rain in areas of the provinces of Huelva, Cadiz, Seville, Alicante and Valencia.”
Spanish forecasters are warning of “heavy and persistent rain”.
Thousands have been forced to leave their homes in the Costa del Sol region of southern Spain, following a red weather alert for extreme rain and flooding. Antonio Sanz, the Regional Government’s Minister of the Presidency, explained: “We have not evacuated entire towns, but rather specific areas linked to the riverbank. This decision has been communicated to the government of Spain in order to receive collaboration from the state security forces and bodies.”
In response to the rising waters of the Guadalhorce river, around 3,000 individuals from Alora and Campanillas have been moved to sports centres in the city, with emergency evacuations extending throughout the Costa del Sol area.