Spain floods latest: Barcelona put on highest alert as airport flooded and 70 flights cancelled

At least 217 people are dead after Spain was struck by the worst floods in recent memory that submerged towns, toppled bridges and cut entire communities off from the outside world.

The deadly floods left cars piled up like toys in streets, swallowed homes, and covered entire neighbourhoods in sludge and debris. Muddy rivers swept away everything in their path – roads, houses and key infrastructure.

Thousands of people are still facing power and water cuts and shortages of basic goods, especially in the eastern region, the worst affected.

Here’s all we know about the devastating floods, the causes, and the scale of the impact:

Oriol Bartomeus, a political science professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, said of the moment angry Valencia residents threw mud at the king and chased off other politicians.

Speaking of King Felipe’s reaction where he engaged in dialogue with the people, Prof Bartomeus said : “If he had sought protection from his bodyguards and run away, now that would have been the darkest day of his reign.

“Instead he showed why he is king, demonstrating composure and serenity, and by getting as close as he could to the people.”

The 56-year-old Felipe took over a Royal House whose reputation was in tatters after the financial and lifestyle scandals of his father, Juan Carlos, who abdicated in 2014.

Where the prime minister was pelted and fled Felipe stood his ground for over half an hour. It was impossible to hear what was said, but he spoke to several shouting people in an intimate and apparently serious tone.Bartomeus, who said he is not a fervent defender of the monarchy, noted what the king didn’t do: He didn’t appear to patronise the people.“

He didn’t console the people, like for example you see the British royals do,” Bartomeus said. Instead, “he dialogued with them. He put the state on his back, got down off the pedestal and went down to the people who were telling him that the state had not arrived, and he told them that it will.”

The regional head of Valencia, Carlos Mazon, said that his region would separately hand out each household 6,000 euros and make available at least 200,000 euros to help each town face urgent spending needs.

In total, Mazon, of the conservative People’s Party, said the region would request from Spain’s central government a first aid package worth around 31.4 billion euros, including funds to reconstruct key infrastructure.

Locals criticised late alerts from authorities about the dangers and a perceived delayed response by emergency services.

But General Javier Marcos, commander of the army’s emergency response services, said he had ordered 500 soldiers to be deployed within 15 minutes of seeing the flood warning on Tuesday who were able to enter hard-hit areas.

“The degree of destruction is so great that mobility is limited,” he said. “It is so complex that it requires two things: discipline and patience.”

Football games should not have been played at the weekend after the deadly floods, the Real Madrid manager has said.

“Football should have stopped this weekend,” Carlo Ancelotti said.

He added: “Football is a party and you can celebrate when things are going well, but when they’re not going well there’s no celebration to be had. It’s the most important of the unimportant things in life.”

“But we are not the ones in charge and we have zero power”, adding: “All the coaches had the same opinion not to play.”

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.