Grazalema has become the symbol of the storm that has been haunting southern Spain, but also southern Portugal and northern Morocco for days. A storm system after another has been coming from the Atlantic for weeks and is causing rainfall that already exceeds what normally would fall further north on the Iberian Peninsula in a year. The water threatens Grazalema on two fronts.
The town with about 1,900 inhabitants in Andalusia sits in the middle of a limestone mountain range. The rain no longer drains away quickly enough. From below, caves and cracks in the limestone fill with water. It surfaces where it never appeared before. Geologists from the Spanish National Research Council describe it as a “gigantic sponge.” In some places the groundwater level has suddenly risen by as much as 200 meters.
On streets and in houses, holes are opening up. Water even gushes from the walls of the houses. Residents report loud noises, a rumble underground. It is the water making its way there. Grazalema has been completely evacuated. When the residents can return is not yet known. It continues to rain, and experts do not rule out the ground giving way and the appearance of enormous sinkholes.
Across Andalusia, more than 11,000 people have had to abandon their homes. The major rivers such as the Guadalete or the Guadalquivir have overflowed their banks. Even the provincial capital Córdoba is under threat. Thirty-three reservoirs have already had to open their gates and release water, which increases the flood risk. Smaller streams have turned into raging rivers, as in the Ubrique area, and flood entire villages. More than 10,000 firefighters, police, and soldiers from the emergency unit UME are deployed.
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More than 200 roads are closed, 75 percent of agricultural land affected. Two people have died in the floods. The Andalusian regional government estimates the damage to roads alone at half a billion euros. Agricultural associations speak of three billion euros in losses. In many places, olives cannot be harvested.
In neighboring Portugal, things do not look better. Many towns in the southern half of the country are underwater. 13 deaths have already been reported. Over 1,000 people have had to leave their homes. 100,000 are without electricity. The damage is estimated at four billion euros.
1,600 soldiers are deployed in a total of 41 villages. The largest European reservoir, Alqueva, on the border between Portugal and Spain, had to open its gates. This in turn causes the Guadiana River to rise sharply. Several Portuguese towns have postponed the second round of the presidential elections scheduled for this Sunday by one week. Postponing them nationwide, as the far-right candidate Andrés Ventura, who in the runoff would face the socialist and favored candidate for the presidency, António José Seguro, would be difficult. The constitution does not provide for this.
Also in northern Morocco, the storm systems are exacting their price. Ksar al Kebir, a city of more than 100,000 inhabitants, had to be evacuated completely, along with other towns. In total, 150,000 people are waiting in emergency shelters for the water to recede. Several towns are completely cut off and are being supplied with food by the army by helicopter.
The anxious look at the clouds continues. For at least another week meteorologists predict further rainfall. They speak of a “train of storm systems.” Because of a fragmentation of the cold air masses over the Arctic and the warming of the seas as a result of climate change, these lows do not sweep through northern and central Europe as usual, but through the south. They pick up warmer air masses from the Caribbean, which have absorbed a great deal of moisture. This leads to unusually heavy rainfall events.
