Spain: Weather warnings as storms turn deadly

September 12, 2019

Spain was bracing for more severe weather on Friday after a day of flooding and high winds turned deadly.

A 61-year-old man and his 51-year-old sister died when their vehicle was swept away in the fast-moving floodwaters. The accident occurred in the municipality of Caudete, some 100 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of the city of Valencia.

Read more: Will it soon be too late to save the climate?

The local AVAMET weather service shared footage of cars being swept away.

It also showed torrents of water engulfing the nearby town of Ontinyent, after the Clariano River burst its banks in the heaviest rainfall since agency records began in 1917.

“We had 300 millimeters of rain. We haven’t seen that for a century,” Jorge Rodriguez, mayor of Ontinyent, told Spanish public broadcaster TVE.

Europe melts under heat wave

New record in France

A pharmacy sign in Carpentras, a village in southeastern France, which shortly held the country’s all-time heat record of 44.3 degrees on Friday. The record was topped again later in the afternoon in the southern village of Villevieille, 100 kilometers (60 miles) to the east, which measured a thermometer-busting 45.1 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit).

Europe melts under heat wave

Scorched forests in Catalonia, Spain

Local authorities said that improperly stored chicken dung at a farm in rural northeastern Spain spontaneously combusted in the extreme heat on Wednesday, unleashing a wildfire that continued to burn on into Friday. Temperatures in the area around the fire reached 41 Celsius on Friday (106 Fahrenheit), as more than 600 firefighters battle the blaze.

Europe melts under heat wave

Hot in the city of love

Denizens of Paris cool down in the Trocadero esplanade. Pavement absorbs heat and takes longer to cool off, which makes cities feel even hotter during a heat wave. Air conditioning is also uncommon in many cities in northern Europe, which can make being indoors unbearable, as buildings trap the heat. A 2003 heatwave in France killed 15,000 people.

Europe melts under heat wave

Homeless at risk in Italy

A volunteer hands water to a homeless man in Milan, Italy, where the mercury has topped 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in recent days. A heat wave alert was issued Friday in Milan, and an elderly homeless man reportedly died from heatstroke in a park near city’s main train station. The extreme temperatures in Italy are expected to ease over the weekend.

Europe melts under heat wave

River bathing in Munich

Bathers lounge on the rocky banks of the Isar river in Munich on Thursday. Last weekend, dozens of women who were bathing topless on the Isar were ordered by police to cover up, sparking a debate on public nudity. Nude beaches are common throughout Germany. The banks of the Isar should be full this weekend, with temperatures in Munich expected to reach 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit).

Europe melts under heat wave

Sorbet for polar bears

A polar bear cools off at the Hanover Zoo in Germany with a frozen sorbet. Zookeepers across Europe have been helping animals beat the heat with mixtures of fruit frozen in ice. Polar bears are also given frozen fish. On Thursday, France banned the transportation of live animals due to the extreme temperatures.

Europe melts under heat wave

Sahara heat in Europe

A weather pattern that has stuck over Europe for almost a week is channeling extremely hot air from the Sahara desert northward. The World Meteorological Association said 2019 is on track to be one of the hottest years on record, and that heatwaves like the one currently scorching Europe are projected to happen more frequently.

Red alert

The Valencia region has been placed on red alert, with authorities saying they had ordered the closure of schools in 84 districts, affecting more than 255,000 pupils. Officials in neighboring Murcia also ordered the closure of all schools into Friday.

The region of Alicante and the province of Albacete were also badly affected.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said emergency services were working to minimize the effects.

“Our thanks for their work and all our solidarity with the thousands of people affected by torrential rains,” Sanchez tweeted.

Heavy rain and storms often hit Spain’s eastern coast as summer gives way to autumn — a phenomenon known locally as “la gota fria”(the cold drop) or DANA (isolated high altitude depression). This occurs when warm air saturated with water from the Mediterranean rises to form huge columns of cloud.

Spain: Gentrification creeps up on Barcelona

Eclectic and diverse

Originally Barcelona’s El Poble-Sec area was a poor neighborhood where factory-workers from the power plant used to live. It is an eclectic working-class district, home to many Dominicans.

Spain: Gentrification creeps up on Barcelona

Driven away

Due to the exorbitant rises in rent, local residents are being driven from their neighborhoods. As a result, community networks are disrupted, leaving locals with little sense of cohesion.

Spain: Gentrification creeps up on Barcelona

Trendy snacks

Blai Street, the main street of El Poble-Sec, has been transformed into a hotspot for bars and cafes selling pinchos, a typical snack much like Tapas, to visitors and tourists.

Spain: Gentrification creeps up on Barcelona

Rents spiraling out of control

Rising rents are often directly linked to the presence of Airbnbs in the neighborhood. Barcelona’s city council has stopped issuing new short-term rental licences, making Airbnb illegal for most of the landlords in the city.

Spain: Gentrification creeps up on Barcelona

Speculation on a grand scale

Gentrification leads to speculation and as a result prices and rents for housing have increased exorbitantly. Nowadays the average rent of an apartment is €950 euro ($1,056). The minimum wage is around €1,050.

Spain: Gentrification creeps up on Barcelona

Taking over the city

When local residents move out of the city, their places are taken over by more affluent residents, expats and businesses. Originally from Brazil, Catarina Jakovac has been living with her boyfriend in a El Poble-Sec apartment for six months. Both work as researchers at European universities.

Spain: Gentrification creeps up on Barcelona

Summer in the city

During the summer season especially, Barcelona is a mass-tourism destination. It’s in the top 10 most visited destinations worldwide, accounting for 30 million tourists annually.

Spain: Gentrification creeps up on Barcelona

Market forces

Last year, neighbors joined forces and protested against the eviction of a man living here in the El Poble Sec neighborhood. An investor bought the property to convert it into upmarket designer apartments.

Spain: Gentrification creeps up on Barcelona

On the street

Mohamed became homeless a few weeks ago. After separating from his wife he rented a room in El Poble Sec. However, with his €600 allowance, he can’t afford rents over €220 However, lodgings in that neighborhood (and Barcelona in general) start at €300.

Spain: Gentrification creeps up on Barcelona

‘Cities against Gentrification’

Barcelona has suffered the consequences of mass tourism. As a result more and more initiatives are popping up to confront gentrification. Under Mayor Ada Colau, an initiative called “Barcelona Manifesto: Cities against Gentrification” has been developed to highlight the housing problems here and elsewhere in cities where gentrification is becoming a serious problem.

Author: Sanne Derks (Barcelona)