Barcelona on high alert amid searches in Valencia – DW

The Spanish city of Barcelona was on high alert on Monday, just days after flash floods in the coastal region of Valencia killed at least 217 people.

Spanish Transport Minister Oscar Puente said he was suspending all commuter trains in northeastern Catalonia, home to around 8 million people. Puente added that some flights were being diverted to Barcelona airport and that a landslide had caused serious traffic jams on a local highway.

Mobile phones for those living on the city’s southern outskirts received blaring messages warning of “extreme and persistent rainfall” and advising residents to avoid normally dry canals and gorges.

About 150 educational institutions in the area canceled classes for that day.

A red alert for rainfall was also issued in the city of Tarragona, south of Barcelona.

In a post on social media site

Angry residents chant ‘murderer’ at the Spanish king

Rescue workers were still rushing to sift through mud and rubble in Valencia, looking for bodies in homes and buildings hit by floods late last week. The Spanish military said around 10,000 troops and police had been deployed to help with the rescue and clean-up operations.

On Sunday, angry residents of Valencia threw mud and chanted “murderer” at Spain’s King Felipe IV, asking why nothing had been done to protect their city from destruction.

Furious flood survivors throw mud at the Spanish royal family

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es/wmd (AP, dpa)