At Least Two Dead as Flooding Hits Eastern Spain

At least two people died overnight from Sunday to Monday in flooding caused by heavy rain in eastern Spain, mainly in the provinces of Valencia and Alicante. One victim died in Sagunto, in Valencia province, and the other was a woman who fell into a stream that had overflowed in Catalonia.

Streets in several towns across Valencia and Alicante turned into torrents of water that swept away parked cars, and some residents had to wait on their rooftops to be rescued. Spain's Military Emergency Unit and firefighters carried out evacuations of flooded homes throughout the night.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez urged people to avoid unnecessary travel and stay home while the storm lasted. Emergency services officials warned that the intensity and duration of the rain had made it practically impossible to travel by road in the hardest hit areas.

Scientists attribute the intensity of these kinds of autumn Mediterranean storms to climate change: warmer sea temperatures over the summer increase evaporation, which later intensifies the severity of the rainfall. September 2026 was the hottest September on record for mainland Spain, and the June through August period was the warmest summer on record.

Emergency crews remained deployed early Monday in the affected areas, as authorities continued assessing the full extent of the damage caused by the flooding.