British tourists have been spotted turning flood waters in Benidorm into their personal playground, using inflatables to float down streets transformed into rivers by heavy rain.
Sightings of carefree expats jumping around on inflatables comes despite severe flooding in other parts of Spain that has claimed at least 200 lives.
Whilst Valencia faced “apocalyptic” conditions just 90 minutes away, some holidaymakers in the Costa Blanca resort chose to make light of the situation.
Local resident Nigel Pope told the Daily Star: “When it’s heavy rain and the streets have been like rivers, British tourists sometimes get their inflatables out and have fun in them in the streets.”
Carefree British expats ‘had fun’ and jumped in inflatables during deadly Spanish floods
Getty/Reuters
Some visitors, however, were more cautious, reporting being “too scared” to travel after red alert warnings were issued.
Nigel Pope, known as the ‘King of Benidorm’, has established a reputation on the Spanish resort town since moving there from Cornwall seven years ago.
The 63-year-old has amassed 70,000 TikTok followers for his digital Benidorm tour guides.
Despite its normally “sunny-all-year-round” weather, the pleasant conditions in Benidorm disappeared for a day after experiencing torrential downpours like much of Spain.
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Roads and vehicles were left covered in mud after the floodwaters hitREUTERS
The floods have caused destruction in SpainGETTY
Discussing how people spent that rainy day, Pope said: “People make fun out of them [the rivers] – obviously not if it’s really bad.
“Most people stay in the bars and restaurants and enjoy themselves as the rain never normally lasts too long here.”
Living on the fifth floor of a hillside building, Pope and his wife have remained unaffected by the flooding.
“We just watch it pass by,” he said of the occasional extreme weather events.
Benidorm has largely escaped the severe flooding that devastated other parts of Spain, thanks to its unique microclimate.
“We missed all the really bad storms, just a couple of hours of really heavy rain in Benidorm on Sunday afternoon. It all dried up and was gone by the evening,” Pope reported.
Nigel Pope, known as the ‘King of Benidorm’, has become a local authority on the Spanish resort town
GETTY
A Briton on the beach in BenidormReutersThe resort town’s fortunate position, surrounded by mountains, helps protect it from extreme weather.
“We have never really suffered from the really bad ‘Gota Fria’ (cold drop) that always happens when the summer temperatures change to autumn,” Pope explained.
Meanwhile, temperatures have remained warm at 28C over recent days.
Despite the brief disruption, Benidorm has quickly returned to normal, with tourists now back to enjoying the sea rather than street waters.
The coastal resort is preparing to host fiesta celebrations on November 14.
The event will serve a charitable purpose, with organisers hoping to raise money for the disaster relief fund.
These funds will specifically support those affected by flooding in Valencia, where the impact has been most severe.