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The old town of Letur was among those hit by floods. Alamy Stock Photo

Images show scale of devastation as flash floods kill dozens in eastern Spain

Dozens of people have died so far and many are still missing.

LAST UPDATE | 30 Oct 2024

STRIKING IMAGES OF one of the worst extreme weather events to hit Spain in a generation have emerged over the past 24 hours, with the deaths of 72 people confirmed.

They show how different parts of southern and eastern Spain have been affected, with streets flooded and cars piled up after being swept away by rising waters.

residents-look-at-cars-piled-up-after-being-swept-away-by-floods-in-valencia-spain-wednesday-oct-30-2024-ap-photoalberto-saiz Residents looking over the wreckage in Valencia. AP Photo / Alberto SaizAlamy Stock Photo AP Photo / Alberto SaizAlamy Stock Photo / Alberto SaizAlamy Stock Photo

Rainstorms that arrived yesterday caused a river to overflow its banks in the town of Alora in Malaga, seen below.

cars-are-being-swept-away-by-the-water-after-floods-preceded-by-heavy-rains-caused-the-river-to-overflow-its-banks-in-the-town-of-alora-malaga-spain-tuesday-oct-29-2024-ap-photogregorio-marr AP Photo / Gregorio Marrero/Alamy Stock Photo AP Photo / Gregorio Marrero/Alamy Stock Photo / Gregorio Marrero/Alamy Stock Photo

Floods of mud-coloured water could be seen throughout streets in the city of Valencia.

people-walk-through-flooded-streets-in-valencia-spain-wednesday-oct-30-2024-ap-photoalberto-saiz People walk through flooded streets in Valencia. AP Photo / Alberto Saiz/Alamy Stock Photo AP Photo / Alberto Saiz/Alamy Stock Photo / Alberto Saiz/Alamy Stock Photo

Police and rescue services used helicopters to lift people from their homes and cars.

residents-accompanied-by-firefighters-walk-through-flooded-streets-in-valencia-spain-wednesday-oct-30-2024-ap-photoalberto-saiz Residents, accompanied by firefighters, walk through flooded streets in Valencia. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Valencian regional president Carlos Mazon urged people to stay at home so as not to complicate rescue efforts, with travel by road already difficult due to fallen trees and wrecked vehicles.

residents-clean-the-street-next-to-cars-piled-up-after-being-swept-away-by-floods-in-valencia-spain-wednesday-oct-30-2024-ap-photoalberto-saiz Residents clean the street next to cars piled up after being swept away by floods in Valencia. AP Photo / Alberto SaizAlamy Stock Photo AP Photo / Alberto SaizAlamy Stock Photo / Alberto SaizAlamy Stock Photo

The cleanup began for some locals but there are warnings that the severe weather is not yet over.

a-man-cleans-his-house-affected-by-floods-in-valencia-spain-wednesday-oct-30-2024-ap-photoalberto-saiz A man cleans his house affected by floods. AP Photo / Alberto SaizAlamy Stock Photo AP Photo / Alberto SaizAlamy Stock Photo / Alberto SaizAlamy Stock Photo

As individuals try to salvage their homes, clean-up efforts are also ongoing on streets to try to clear away the floodwaters.

personnel-of-the-junta-de-andalucia-do-cleanup-work-after-the-passage-of-the-dana-on-october-30-2024-in-malaga-andalusia-spain-la-dana-wreaks-havoc-in-the-province-of-malaga-october-302024-al Personnel of the Junta de Andalucia doing clean-up work after the storm in the Malaga province Alex Zea / Europa Press via AP/Alamy Alex Zea / Europa Press via AP/Alamy / Europa Press via AP/Alamy

However, it will take time for the extent of the damage to be assessed and recovered from.

wrecked-cars-after-the-passage-of-the-dana-on-october-30-2024-in-malaga-andalusia-spain-la-dana-wreaks-havoc-in-the-province-of-malaga-october-302024-alex-zea-europa-press-10302024-europ The landscape today after the storm in an area of the Malaga province Alex Zea / Europa Press via AP/Alamy Alex Zea / Europa Press via AP/Alamy / Europa Press via AP/Alamy

The city of Jerez in the Cadiz province was also among the affected areas.

porvera-street-in-jerez-with-water-accumulated-by-the-rains-of-the-dana-that-crosses-the-province-on-october-30-2024-in-jerez-cadiz-andalusia-spain-the-aemet-extends-the-orange-warning-for-the Floods blocking access to Porvera Street in Jerez, Cadiz today Europa Press / Alamy Europa Press / Alamy / Alamy

Additional reporting by Lauren Boland

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    Mute Irish Names
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    Apr 23rd 2015, 7:02 PM

    First time I’ve seen it occupied in a while in fairness

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    Mute Little Diddy No
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    Apr 25th 2015, 9:25 AM

    I saw it – huge admiration to the pair for caring enough to do this…

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    Mute FlyB
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    Apr 23rd 2015, 7:02 PM

    Fair enough in my book. Well done to protesters. They’ve at the very least raised awareness about this. I for one didn’t know about the failure to compensate. Best of luck.

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    Mute Pedro deluvio
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    Apr 23rd 2015, 7:13 PM

    Me neither.

    They’ll never see the “united colours” of my money!

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    Mute Allister
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    Apr 23rd 2015, 7:01 PM

    What a dump of a store…. I’ve never seen a single thing in it I’d ever want to buy…

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    Mute Thomas Maher
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    Apr 23rd 2015, 7:06 PM

    Apart from one Garda who was on the scene the protest seemed to be a peaceful one..
    Are you suggesting the gardai would cause the protest not to be peaceful?

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    Mute Paul Roche
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    Apr 23rd 2015, 7:04 PM

    Occupy Wool Street?

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    Mute Top Cat
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    Apr 23rd 2015, 7:02 PM

    Jeez and Dunnes workers think their working conditions are bad.

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    Mute Kevin Higgins
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    Apr 23rd 2015, 7:05 PM

    So you want to live in Bangladesh?

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    Mute Top Cat
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    Apr 23rd 2015, 7:10 PM

    Chill Kevin, tragedies like this one are horrific and all I am saying is in comparative terms Dunnes workers have little to be complaining about.

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    Mute Diarmaid O'Fionnachta
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    Apr 23rd 2015, 7:14 PM

    Well if you compare it to footballers who have no need for qualifications and get to play football all day for 150k a week they do have something to complain about. What’s your point??

    Dunnes workers don’t have to work in mortal danger to earn the right to complain about their conditions

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    Mute Kevin Higgins
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    Apr 23rd 2015, 7:16 PM

    Comparitive to denis obrien they deserve a wage increase of 100000%

    60
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    Mute Top Cat
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    Apr 23rd 2015, 7:20 PM

    My point for the third time, when you hear of awful tragedies like this where thousands perish at work it puts things into perspective how good our working conditions are here.

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    Mute Kevin Higgins
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    Apr 23rd 2015, 8:08 PM

    My minimum wage flexi hour contract severely disagrees with you

    61
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    Mute Mary Kavanagh
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    Apr 24th 2015, 1:33 AM

    Throw away the shovel, Top Cat. You’re on a loser on this one.

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    Mute Thomas Aquinas
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    Apr 24th 2015, 7:57 AM

    He is right though Said the unpopular opinion puffin

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    Mute Drew
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    Apr 23rd 2015, 7:20 PM

    In the first photo Benetton appears to be spelled Bennetton and in the third photo survivors is spelled Survivers… I’ll bet any takers not a single one of them can find Bangladesh on a map.

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    Mute Drew
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    Apr 23rd 2015, 7:26 PM

    In fact I’m slightly disappointed not to see an attempt to write Bangladesh… I’m sure that would have been good for a laugh.

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    Mute Niall
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    Apr 23rd 2015, 7:09 PM

    Have these people no jobs to go to, what about the inconvenience to shoppers, wasting police resources and so on and so forth.

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    Mute Andrew McQuillan
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    Apr 23rd 2015, 7:12 PM

    How about not being a heartless tool, and so on and so forth

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    Mute William Byrne
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    Apr 23rd 2015, 7:13 PM

    some waffle outta you kid !
    wipe the shiite off yer lip

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    Mute Niall
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    Apr 23rd 2015, 7:15 PM

    How about looking up sarcasm in a dictionary? In case you haven’t noticed these are the usual lines thrown out about water charge protesters.

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    Mute William Byrne
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    Apr 23rd 2015, 7:22 PM

    The only thing I noticed was the shiite on yer lip

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    Mute Niall
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    Apr 23rd 2015, 7:24 PM

    It could be worse it could be between my ears.

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    Mute William Byrne
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    Apr 23rd 2015, 7:29 PM

    sorry Niall – didnt get the sarcasm at all man -

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    Mute Mary Kavanagh
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    Apr 24th 2015, 1:34 AM

    Oh Niall! I hate to say this but…!

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    Mute neuromancer
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    Apr 23rd 2015, 7:16 PM

    Surprised protesters are allowed in the store.

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    Mute Glen
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    Apr 23rd 2015, 7:00 PM

    Down with that sort of thing.

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    Mute Sheila Hooks
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    Apr 23rd 2015, 7:24 PM

    Cianan his name is Gerry Lydon not Donal.

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    Mute Anca Condrache
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    Apr 23rd 2015, 8:39 PM

    The company’s failure to own up to the disaster and pay their contribution has nothing to do with store itself though! These protesters are jeopardising the employers and employees safety and privacy, by carelessly protesting in the middle of the store, and that is by no means peaceful. They are absolutely right to raise awareness but if they want effective results, why not contact the head office of the company itself? Why not go there and protest? What about the other stores around the country? This poorly organised protest is just an attention-seeking bid from individuals who are just protesting for the sake of it.

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    Mute Gerry Lydon
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    Apr 23rd 2015, 10:30 PM

    Hi guys. Gerry here. I helped organize and was involved with today’s protest. Just a few points : Neuromacer its easy to walk into a store that isn’t expecting. Drew go out and play with the traffic! Those talking about dunnes : Yes our lives are infinitely better but as we saw with some of the thongs they were fightong for, if employers get a taste for exploitation, in a globalized world we can feel the effect here as well as regard zero hours, union involvement etc. Anca I gonna presume your not the sort who ever actually does anything judging by the tone of your “whats the point of action comment”. While Id like to dismiss you as a waste of space, unfortunately your apathy and cynicism is quote common so to summarize getting publicity for a neglected cause is better than sitting round moaning. But as for the jeopatdizing safety and privacy, go back to sleep and stop throwing around terms! Ill see you in the morning glen. So finally nothing comes of nothing. If you care about something, put some effort in and get out there! The smallest acorns can become a big tree or at least a feature on a popular website! X.

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    Mute Ann Reddin
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    Apr 23rd 2015, 11:37 PM

    Good on ye Gerry, hope you managed to stop them making sales today.

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    Mute Mary Kavanagh
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    Apr 24th 2015, 1:37 AM

    Because it would have damn all impact . Go up to the head office here and say, please play nicely and pay the money you owe? We all know most big corporations have to be dragged kicking and screaming to do the right thing. These people have had two years to pay the money they pledged. Time for them to be shamed into stumping up.

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    Mute Jason O Shea
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    Apr 24th 2015, 4:16 AM

    Hi Gerry, I dont think the Dunnes strike had anything to do with underwear.

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    Mute john murphy
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    Apr 24th 2015, 1:22 PM

    A bottle of Lynx would get rid of them protestors! I’d say there’s an awful stink of piss in that shop at the moment.

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    Mute CitizenSmith©
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    Apr 24th 2015, 11:45 AM

    They do make some nice clothes though

    3
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