Spain floods latest: Rescuers frantically dig for missing in underground shopping centre and car parks

Don Turner, 78, and his wife Terry, 74, had not been seen since flash floods swept through eastern Spain.

Their daughter, Ruth O’Loughlin, from Burntwood, Staffordshire, confirmed to the BBC that her parents’ bodies had been found in their car on Saturday.

She had said her parents had moved to Spain a decade ago because they had “always wanted to live in the sunshine” and criticised the “diabolicial” response from Spanish authorities.

Her neice wrote on Facebook: “This tragedy that will haunt us for a lifetime. If only the people knew the floods were coming. We will never forget.

“Thank you Mom and Auntie Ruth for being so strong and doing the family, and Nan and Grandad proud.

“We love you.”

Catalan Police have posted a video of a desperate rescue of a man trapped in his car in Baix Llobregat, a coastal region just south of Barcelona.

Catalan Civil Protectionissued a mobile phone alert to residents in Baix Llobregat, Barcelonès, Garraf, Maresme, Vallès Occidental, Vallès Oriental, and Selva counties urging people to limit movement and avoid approaching riverbanks or ravines on Monday morning.

The first message was issued at 8.30am in Baix Llobregat before hours of heavy rainfall affected surrounding areas.

The Spanish Ministry of Agriculture has removed over 2,950 dead animals from farms in areas hit by the flash floods.

Local officials removed deceased animals from 17 farms in Valencia towns, including pigs, sheep horses and poultry

Spanish public health experts have warned over immediate health risks associated with stagnant floodwaters and decomposing bodies.

The Ministry of Health has insisted that water contamination from dead animals or humans is not currently a public health issue.

However, residents remain at high risk over gastrointestinal illnesses from drinking contaminated water, injuries from debris, and the proliferation of mosquitoes spreading diseases.

Public health societies, emergency response teams, and NGOs are currently working on the ground in the most affected areas like Paiporta and Chiva in Valencia to ensure the safety and hygiene of residents.

With dozens more feared to be dead, health officials have called local authorities to speed up search of bodies and clean-up operations to prevent further risks.

In Valencia, the search continued for bodies inside houses and thousands of wrecked cars strewn in the streets, on highways, and in canals that channelled last week’s floods into populated areas.

Spain’s Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said that authorities can still not give a reliable estimate of the missing. In the Aldaia municipality, some 50 soldiers, police and firefighters, some wearing wetsuits, searched in a huge shopping centre’s underground parking lot for possible victims.

They used a small boat and spotlights to move around in the huge structure with vehicles submerged in at least a meter of murky water.

Police spokesman Ricardo Gutiïerrez told reporters that so far some 50 vehicles had been found and no bodies had been discovered there.

The Bonaire shopping mall’s 1,800 underground parking spaces quickly filled with water and mud on Tuesday and Wednesday when the southern outskirts of Valencia were hit by a tsunami-like flooding. The team is using four pumps to remove the water.

Public anger is mounting over the disaster that has killed at least 217 people with dozens of others still unaccounted for. Almost all of deaths occurred in the Valencia region and more than 60 in the suburb of Paiporta.

The army sent about 5,000 soldiers over the weekend to help distribute food and water, clean up streets and guard against looters and a further 2,500 would join them, Defence Minister Margarita Robles told state-owned radio RNE.

A warship with 104 marine infantry soldiers as well as trucks with food and water arrived in Valencia port even as a strong hailstorm pummelled Barcelona some 300 km (186 miles) to the north.

The deadly storm that swept through Barcelona has led to the suspension of 70 departing flights and the diversion of another 18 at Barcelona-El Prat Airport, according to operator Aena.

The heavy rainfall has also caused flooding in key areas, including the T-1 terminal and parking facilities. Passengers have been restricted from the areas while airport staff continue to clear the water and restore normal operations.

Aena said that the storm has significantly disrupted all activities at the airport, resulting in “considerable” delays after air traffic controllers were forced to space out flight departures.

Passengers have been advised to check the state of their flights online and prepare for potential delays as the airport continues to manage the impact of the floods.