All you need to know about travelling to Spain as country is hit by floods

Between Friday, 11 and Sunday, 13 July 2025, the northeastern region of Spain has been hit by a series of heavy rains and winds. As a consequence, severe floods occurred and have caused damage to both public infrastructure and homes.

While rainfall started on Friday, on Saturday, 12 July specifically, the Spanish meteorological agency Aemet issued alerts for several regions across northeastern Spain. Among them were Huesca, Teruel, Zaragoza, Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, Tarragona, and Castellón.

“Follow the instructions of civil protection and avoid travelling. Great caution,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez warned on X at the time.

Muy pendientes de la situación en varias comunidades con avisos por fuertes lluvias y tormentas.

Efectivos de la @UMEgob están colaborando ya en municipios de la Ribera Alta del Ebro.

Sigan las indicaciones de protección civil y eviten desplazamientos. Mucha precaución. https://t.co/Ptof6oqvAX

— Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) July 12, 2025

The precise amount of rainfall fluctuated between approximately 62 millimetres and 155 millimetres of rain. Aemet warned that “danger is extraordinary” and urged people to stay home, while staying away from basements and other underground spaces.

When the heaviest rainfall swept across the country on Saturday, roads across the northeastern regions were flooded, and some of them even temporarily resembled rivers. The El Cardener River in Catalonia went so far as to transport several cars in its waterway, a worrisome picture that was even caught on camera. Two people have gone missing during the flood, after an eyewitness saw them fall into the Foix River in Cubelles near Barcelona – firefighters are currently trying their best to locate the pair.

The severe weather had calmed down by Saturday evening, even though rain continued to fall throughout Sunday, 13 July. 

As many are currently vacationing in Spain, the floods are impacting tourists as well as locals. As far as transportation is concerned, Spain’s rail company Renfe temporarily suspended some of its services in the region on Saturday but since then, trains are running once again. Moreover, a Delta plane heading to the United States from Barcelona was forced to turn back due to hailstorm damage to the nose of the aircraft. Many roads are still (partly) blocked due to the impact of the storm and could thus disrupt traffic.

At the moment, governments across the globe don’t seem to have issued negative travel advice to Spain or its northeastern regions. This means travellers are free to visit. However, when planning to travel to the impacted provinces, it is advised to contact your travel agent or hotel in order to make sure your trip will be able to take place as expected. As many homes have been hit by the floods, some accommodations might temporarily be unavailable.

Severe weather

The floods occurred during a heatwave in Spain, caused by a so-called heat dome phenomenon that has been impacting weather across Europe for weeks. Because of that, meteorologists think the floods over the weekend were caused by a so-called DANA (Depresión Aislada en Niveles Altos), an isolated depression at high levels, happening when cold air and hot air meet to form severe storms outside of the usual jet streams.

And while temperatures in northeastern Spain have slightly dropped following the heavy rainfall, a big part of the country is currently still experiencing extreme temperatures. On Tuesday, 15 July, warnings have been issued for several provinces, including regions surrounding cities such as Seville and Cordoba. At the moment, it is unclear when temperatures will drop.

Over recent years, Spain has been experiencing a number of traumatic floods. In October 2024, in particular, Valencia was hit by the deadliest floods in decades, killing over 200 people. Earlier this year, in March 2025, heavy rains continued for weeks, leading to heavy floods and severe consequences.