In addition to ravaging the Spanish and French coasts, the Gloria storm claimed at least 11 lives in Spain, according to a latest report from local authorities. Research is underway to find at least four missing persons.
"A 50-year-old man died in the afternoon while fishing on rocks in L'Ametlla de Mar," Catalonia Civil Protection announced on Thursday. Previously, this service had announced that "the lifeless body of the man wanted in Cabacé (northeast) had been found" in his vehicle.
Government reunited urgently
Another man had been found earlier Thursday in a river in Jorba also in Catalonia, local rescue workers told AFP. This brings to at least eleven the number of deaths caused by these bad weather since Sunday. In addition, the death on Wednesday of a 75-year-old woman in the collapse of her building in the province of Alicante is linked to the bad weather, the building having collapsed due to heavy rain, local authorities said. . The other seven victims have been found dead since Sunday in the regions of Valencia (east), Catalonia (north-east), Andalusia (south) and Castile and Leon (center).
Visiting Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, two of the most affected regions, the head of the socialist government Pedro Sanchez announced the holding on Friday of an "emergency meeting to activate all the mechanisms" to respond to the damage caused by these bad weather . "We are not going to skimp on resources," he promised.
Eastern Spain was hit from Sunday to Wednesday by torrential rain but also snowfall and gusts of wind at 100 km / h. Waves of more than 10 meters broke on this coast, among the most touristy in Europe, where many cities were flooded.
Increasingly frequent phenomena
The death toll could climb further as at least four other people are missing in Catalonia and the Balearic archipelago, according to the emergency services. Among them are a 25-year-old Briton, who disappeared in Ibiza, and a 27-year-old Spaniard who was canyoning on the island of Majorca.
Spain has recently been surprised by various episodes of torrential rain of rare intensity. Seven people died in September due to floods in the southeast and in 2018, 13 died in inclement weather in Mallorca. "It is obvious that the weather phenomena we are experiencing are not all due to climate change, but what is also obvious is that climate change is accentuating them," commented Pedro Sanchez. Gloria has also hit France since Tuesday. In the Pyrénées-Orientales department, some 1,500 people were evacuated but gradually returned to their homes on Thursday.
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