Big crop damage after heavy rainfall in southern Spain

The heavy rainfall in southern Spain over the last few days has had devastating consequences. The death toll has risen to ten. In the province of Murcia five people have lost their lives, in Almeria three and in Malaga two, reported a spokesperson from the regional government in Andalusia on Saturday. Hundreds of people have been evacuated according to local media. The extreme weather also disrupted trains between Madrid and Valencia. Some roads have been washed away. A bridge on the Autovia del Mediteraneo - the road between Vera and Cartagena was broken in half.

The heavy rainfall began on Friday evening. The front moved north towards Catalonia and Balearen. In the last few days there were also deaths in Morocco due to heavy rain. The impact of the downpours on the Spanish agriculture is huge. Polytunnels have been damaged, but the biggest damage is to open ground cultivation. In Pulpi the fields of lettuce, cauliflower and artichokes are completely underwater. The citrus orchards have also been affected, but less than the vegetables.

Last Winter was the driest ever in Spain and the Spring was also exceptionally dry. Rain was desperately needed, and throughout the Summer hardly any fell. The result: the driest Summer on record. Autumn began this month and at last some rain fell in some areas, but it was too much rain at one time which led to flooding and various areas in the region of Malaga were evacuated. Last night in the south and east of Spain there were thunderstorms and more heavy rain with up to 150mm falling in a short time. Particularly Antequera, a region in the Malaga province is experiencing big problems at the moment.