Record rain in Catalonia kills two, one missing as rivers burst their banks

Two men have died and one person is missing after torrential rain swept across the province of Barcelona over the weekend, Catalan fire chief David Borrell said at a press conference. Eight schools in Catalonia will not hold classes on Monday because of storm damage, news site ElDiario.es reported. Saturday was the region's wettest Saturday in at least 20 years, according to the Catalan weather service Meteocat.

One victim died after a wall collapsed inside a campsite in Tordera, while the other drowned in a flooded garage in Montornès del Vallès, both towns in Barcelona province, Borrell said. Catalan regional president Salvador Illa confirmed the toll and offered his condolences. Some German-language media, including WELT and ORF, have reported at least three deaths from the storm, though Catalan authorities have confirmed only two.

Firefighters rescued drivers trapped by rising water in Granollers and Canovelles, north of Barcelona, emergency services said. Civil Protection sent an ES-Alert warning to towns near the Besòs river, including Santa Coloma de Gramenet, over the risk that it could overflow, Europa Press reported. Further north, in Girona province, authorities warned residents near the Ridaura and Daró rivers to stay indoors as water levels rose close to the French border.

More than 200 litres of rain per square metre fell at some points in Catalonia during the episode, Spain's weather agency Aemet said, with over 100 litres accumulating overnight alone in parts of Barcelona and Girona provinces. Rodalies commuter trains and high-speed services between Barcelona and Tarragona were suspended, and 385 flights were cancelled at Barcelona airport over the weekend, Portuguese outlets Correio da Manhã and Notícias ao Minuto reported.

About 17,000 customers lost power in the Barcelona area and the Red Cross said it had assisted 4,000 people, news site 20minutos reported. The storm also forced the cancellation of a housing-rights demonstration planned in Barcelona on Saturday, one of several held in Spanish cities that day, including a protest in Madrid attended by tens of thousands of people.

Illa said on Sunday that the storm, which he described as having "tropical characteristics," was moving away from Catalonia towards the north, and that conditions should return to normal from Monday, though he urged people to remain cautious. Spain's authorities extended weather warnings to ten regions, with Catalonia under a red alert and Asturias and Extremadura under orange alerts, EFE and La Razón reported.

The same storm system was blamed for the death of a 102-year-old woman swept away by floodwater in Castilla-La Mancha, south-east of Madrid, on Saturday, French outlets Sud Ouest and Franceinfo reported. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez urged people to avoid unnecessary travel and follow official guidance, describing the situation in Catalonia as "very complicated."