Spain’s Mediterranean vacation islands of Ibiza and Formentera emerged comparatively unscathed from torrential rainfall on Tuesday that triggered floods and prompted the closure of seashores and colleges.
The downpours got here a day after the japanese Valencia area, the place greater than 200 folks died 11 months in the past in Spain’s deadliest floods in a long time, was additionally positioned underneath the very best climate alert for rain.
Nationwide climate company AEMET mentioned on X that the “extraordinary” downpours represented the wettest day since at the least 1952 in Ibiza, identified for its pristine seashores and exuberant nightlife.
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Within the city of Ibiza, AEMET mentioned a measuring station provisionally recorded 254 litres of rain per sq. metre in 24 hours — “greater than half of the same old rainfall in a complete yr within the space”.
The flooded promenade of the port on the island of Ibiza on September thirtieth 2025. (Picture by VICENT MARI / AFP)
Footage on social media confirmed pedestrians wading via muddy water on an Ibiza beachfront lined with palm timber, bars and eating places as sirens from emergency autos wailed within the background.
Murky brown water additionally gushed via streets, sweeping away massive waste containers and forcing autos to advance at a crawl.
A vacationer carries his suitcase on his head as he walks down a flooded road in Ibiza. (Picture by Vicent MARI / AFP)
The Balearic Islands’ regional authorities reported 179 incidents on Ibiza and 6 on Formentera, most associated to flooding on floor flooring, roads, falling timber and concrete materials, in addition to the danger of rivers overflowing.
Regional authorities mentioned three folks had been evenly injured in a landslip close to a lodge however confirmed no severe accidents or deaths.
The Spanish military’s emergencies unit deployed with reinforcements from the neighbouring island of Mallorca and the mainland to assist pump water from buildings and clear roads, a few of which remained lower off.
Ibiza’s airport freeway fully underwater. (Picture by Vicent MARI / AFP)
Painful recollections
Emergency providers on Ibiza and Formentera had despatched a mass phone alert to warn residents, suspending all lessons and shutting seashores.
All training centres would stay shut in Ibiza city on Wednesday, the regional authorities introduced, saying normality would return on Thursday after a full revision of all faculty buildings.
Automobiles drive down a flooded road in Ibiza on September 30, 2025. (Picture by Vicent MARI / AFP)
AEMET lifted all climate warnings for Ibiza and Formentera by the night after earlier declaring the very best pink alert.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez expressed his concern on X, urging folks to “train warning and comply with data from official channels”.
A pink alert on Monday compelled colleges to close for greater than half one million pupils within the Valencia area, reviving painful recollections of final yr’s floods.
Scientists say human-driven local weather change is intensifying excessive climate occasions such because the heavy rainfall that triggers floods, with a hotter ambiance able to holding extra water.
Oceans have absorbed 90 p.c of the surplus warmth produced by human exercise because the industrial age, in line with scientists, inflicting the Mediterranean Sea to heat quickly.
