US EditionStorm Leonardo forces evacuations in Spain and Portugal with more rain on the way
Over 1,600 residents were evacuated from Grazalema after Storm Leonardo caused unprecedented rainfall that saturated aquifers, raising flood and landslide risks, officials said.
- Juanma Moreno, Andalucian regional president, ordered a full evacuation of Grazalema on Thursday as a precaution, with local authorities relocating residents to prepared facilities in Ronda, Málaga province.
- Storm Leonardo dumped record rainfall with accumulations over 10 days exceeding 1,300 litres per square metre, and Grazalema received around 390 to 400 l/m² in 16 hours.
- Footage and reports show groundwater bursting into homes, with water gushing from plug sockets and walls despite Grazalema's 900 metres elevation and porous terrain being overwhelmed.
- Authorities are conducting door-to-door evacuations coordinated by the Guardia Civil and the Military Emergency Unit, as Moreno warned saturated aquifers can trigger landslides amid over 7,454 weather incidents in Andalusia since late January.
- With fewer than 2,000 residents and roughly 69 foreign residents, Grazalema is long known as Andalucia's rainiest pueblo blanco, impacted by near 1,300 l/m² over ten days.
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Several thousand evacuated in southern Spain amid storm Leonardo
Torrential rains brought by storm Leonardo have forced the evacuation of an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 people across southern Spain, including the entire population of the small hillside town of Grazalema in Cadiz Province, local authorities said on Thursday.
The president of the Junta de Andalucía, Juanma Moreno, has asked to wait for the geological reports of the CSIC technicians to assess when the 1,600 people from Grazalema (Cadiz) who on Thursday had to be evicted due to the risk of collapse could return to their homes, indicating that "it might be reasonable" to extend the perimeter of eviction.In statements to journalists from Huétor Tajar (Granada), the president has sent a message of tranqui…
Storm Leonardo forces evacuations in Spain and Portugal with more rain on the way
One of Spain's main rivers was close to bursting its banks on Friday and experts warned of landslides from waterlogged ground that could hold no more rain, as Storm Leonardo blew across the Iberian Peninsula with more storms on their way.
The mayor of Ronda (Málaga), Mari Paz Fernández, has received on Thursday the residents of Grazalema evacuated in a preventive way because of the heavy rain that hits Andalusia. Those affected arrived in the city of Malaga after leaving their homes because of the risk of landslides and the instability of the land, in one of the most drastic decisions taken during this weather episode. The reception took place in the municipal sports center El Fu…
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