Thousands evacuated in Spain as residents cover cars in plastic wrap – just two weeks after floods killed 220
Thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes in the Costa del Sol as storms are set to bring fresh misery to parts of southern Spain.
More than 220 people were killed in the country’s worst floods in modern history just two weeks ago, with homes and buildings destroyed and streets turned to rivers of mud.
Now, people are covering their cars in plastic wrap and anchoring them to lamp posts as part of efforts to prepare for more flooding.
Authorities have issued a red alert for heavy rain in the Costa del Sol, with areas around Malaga and Granada also subject to warnings that up to 180 millimetres (7 inches) could fall in 12 hours.
Winds of up to 74 mph (119 kmph) and high seas were also predicted for Tarragona, Barcelona and Murcia.
National weather office AEMET also placed parts of Catalonia in northeast Spain on a red alert, with areas along the coast in Tarragona at high risk of “very strong to torrential rain”.
A man walks through a flooded street after the Campanillas river overflowed, due to heavy rains in Malaga, Spain. Pic: Reuters
Pic: Reuters
Videos on social media showed deep water filling some of Malaga’s main streets this afternoon as residents were told to stay at home.
Police closed roads, bus lines across the city were suspended along with some high-speed trains, and parts of Malaga airport were underwater.
Staff at the Hospital Clinico were filmed wading through water after the laboratory area flooded.
Empty train tracks near a beach, as Spain braces for fresh flooding, near Tarragona. Pic: Reuters
Meanwhile, people living close to the Campanillas River were told to leave their homes as the water began to rise.
Earlier, 3,000 homes were evacuated as a precaution on the banks of the Guadalhorce River.
In the tourist resort of Marbella, a waterspout was seen moving for several minutes through the sea just off the coast.
The opening tie of the Billie Jean King Cup Finals tennis event between Spain and Poland was also postponed because of the storms.
Previously flood-hit areas around Valencia were issued a less severe weather warning prompting some schools to close until Friday.
Thousands of workers are still removing mud and debris that has accumulated on the roads and clogged sewage pipes and drains in towns around Valencia after the recent deadly floods.
There were fears the mud-filled sewers would struggle to cope even if the new downpours weren’t as torrential.
A man walks past stacked up cars after floods in Catarroja. Pic: AP
Flooding in Spain two weeks ago left cars damaged and covered in mud. Pic: Reuters
Army personnel clean a drainage system blocked by mud in Paiporta, Valencia. Pic: Reuters
As the new weather front moved in, authorities confirmed the bodies of two young brothers who went missing when floods hit their home in October had been found.
Ruben and Izan Matias, aged 3 and 5, were discovered in separate locations near Catarroja, almost six miles downstream from their house in Torrent, according to the Civil Guard.
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It comes after thousands of people marched in Valencia over the weekend to demand the resignation of the region’s president following the response to the devastating flooding.
Protesters filled the centre of the eastern Spanish city and chanted “killers!” as they called for Carlos Mazon to go, while others dumped muddy boots outside a regional government building.
One banner read: “Our hands are stained with mud, yours with blood.”
A new aid system has opened its first distribution centres in Gaza, according to a US-backed organisation dealing with supplies.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began its operations in the territory on Monday, following the resignation of its director, Jake Wood, over its independence.
Gaza’s 2.3m population has been pushed towards famine by Israel’s almost three-month blockade.
Boxes of aid to be distributed across Rafah. Pic: Reuters.
The GHF said lorryloads of food – it did not say how many – had been delivered to its hubs, and distribution to Palestinians had begun.
“More trucks with aid will be delivered tomorrow, with the flow of aid increasing each day,” it said in a statement.
The controversial group, backed by Israel and the United States, has been rejected by the United Nations and other aid groups.
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People line up for food in Gaza
UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF.
They claim Israel is weaponising food, and the new distribution system will be ineffective and lead to further displacement of Palestinians.
They also argue the GHF will fail to meet local needs, and violates humanitarian principles that prohibit a warring party from controlling humanitarian assistance.
In the meantime, scores of Palestinians in Gaza, like Islam Abu Taima, have resorted to searching through rubbish to find food.
Palestinians are having to search through rubbish to find food
She found a small pile of cooked rice, scraps of bread, and a box with a few pieces of cheese inside it – which she said she will serve to her five children.
“We’re dying of hunger,” she told the Associated Press news agency.
“If we don’t eat, we’ll die.”
Islam Abu Taeima finds a piece of bread in a pile of rubbish in Gaza City. Pic: AP.
It is unclear how many of the GHF’s aid trucks will enter Gaza.
It claims it will reach one million Palestinians by the end of the week.
There are questions, however, over who is funding it and how it will work.
Trucks transporting aid for Palestinians in Rafah. Pic: Reuters.
It has been set up as part of an Israeli plan – rather than a UN distribution effort.
Israel, which suggested a similar plan earlier this year, has said it will not be involved in distributing the aid but supported the plan and would provide security.
It says aid deliveries into Gaza are taken by Hamas instead of going to civilians.
Aid groups, however, say there is no evidence of this happening on a systemic basis.
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Israel began to allow a limited amount of food into Gaza last week – after a blockade that prevented food, medicine, fuel and other goods from entering the Palestinian enclave.
A letter has been signed by hundreds of judges and lawyers calling on the UK government to impose trade sanctions on Israel.
It also calls for Israeli ministers to be sanctioned and the suspension of Israel from the UN over “serious breaches of international law”.
“Genocide is being perpetrated in Gaza or that, at a minimum, there is a serious risk of genocide,” the letter says.
The Israeli government has repeatedly dismissed allegations of genocide in Gaza.
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At least 31 dead after school attack
More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its ground invasion of Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, following the deadly attacks by the militant group on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
The health ministry’s figures do not differentiate between civilians and fighters in Gaza.
King Charles and Queen Camilla are being urged to use their visit to Canada to seek an apology for the abuse of British children.
Campaigners have called on them to pursue an apology for the “dire circumstances” suffered by so-called “Home Children” over decades.
More than 100,000 were shipped from orphan homes in the UK to Canada between 1869 and 1948 with many used as cheap labour, typically as farm workers and domestic servants. Many were subject to mistreatment and abuse.
Canada has resisted calls to follow the UK and Australia in apologising for its involvement in child migrant schemes.
King Charles and Mark Carney on Monday. Pic: PA
Campaigners for the Home Children say the royal visit presents a “great opportunity” for a change of heart.
“I would ask that King Charles uses his trip to request an apology,” John Jefkins told Sky News.
John’s father Bert was one of 115,000 British Home Children transported to Canada, arriving in 1914 with his brother Reggie.
“It’s really important for the Home Children themselves and for their descendants,” John said.
“It’s something we deserve and it’s really important for the healing process, as well as building awareness of the experience of the Home Children.
“They were treated very, very badly by the Canadian government at the time. A lot of them were abused, they were treated horribly. They were second-class citizens, lepers in a way.”
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John Jefkins
John added: “I think the King’s visit provides a great opportunity to reinforce our campaign and to pursue an apology because we’re part of the Commonwealth and King Charles is a new Head of the Commonwealth meeting a new Canadian prime minister. It’s a chance, for both, to look at the situation with a fresh eye.
“There’s much about this visit that looks on our sovereignty and who we are as Canadians, rightly so.
“I think it’s also right that in contemplating the country we built, we focus on the people who built it, many in the most trying of circumstances.”
The issue was addressed by the then Prince of Wales during a tour of Canada in May 2022. He said at the time: “We must find new ways to come to terms with the darker and more difficult aspects of the past.”
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King Charles and Queen Camilla are on a two-day visit to Canada.
On Tuesday, the King will deliver the Speech from the Throne to open the 45th session of Canada’s parliament.
Camilla was made Patron of Barnardo’s in 2016. The organisation sent tens of thousands of Home Children to Canada. She took on the role, having served as president since 2007.
Buckingham Palace has been contacted for comment.
A spokesperson for the Canadian government said: “The government of Canada is committed to keeping the memory of the British Home Children alive.
“Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada deeply regrets this unjust and discriminatory policy, which was in place from 1869 to 1948. Such an approach would have no place in modern Canada, and we must learn from past mistakes.”
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