Ben Pawlowski
DANA Alice has continued to wreak havoc across eastern Spain over the weekend – with the chaos reportedly extending to supermarket aisles as weary Brits fight over the last supplies of alcohol.
The slow-moving storm, which has brought intense downpours and flash floods to many of Spain’s best-loved resorts, is set to linger into next week with an orange alert covering Valencia and the Balearic Islands active until Tuesday.
Even then, a lower-level yellow weather warning will remain in place, warning of further rainfall and thunderstorms.
Up to 300mm of rain may have fallen in some parts of the country over the weekend – with the grim weather coming almost one year on from the catastrophic Valencia floods that left over 200 dead.
For many, the extreme conditions have fuelled fears of shortages with the heavy rain closing many roads and even temporarily suspending operations at a number of airports, such as Alicante-Elche and Ibiza.
According to one Facebook group popular with British expats, some people have even taken to stockpiling bottles of booze while waiting for the weather to clear up.
One poster in the La Zenia Facebook group for residents in La Zenia, near Alicante, warned others that some Brits were clashing as they took to local supermarkets to stock up.
“If you’re thinking about going to LIDL, don’t do it,” the post said.
READ MORE: Heavy rain to continue through the weekend with orange alert for Valencia region on Saturday
“All the British are there to buy all the alcohol they can find. Police need to come all the time because they’re fighting for the last alcohol.”
Military personnel from the specialist UME emergency unit have been dispatched to Ibiza for the second time in less than a fortnight after the island was battered overnight by torrential rain.
The popular O Beach Club, owned by Wayne Lineker – brother of Gary – was even forced to shut for the first time ‘in years’ as high-speed winds rattled parasols and heavy rain dampened proceedings.
Elsewhere, footage shared on social media showed a string of supercars, including a luxury Lamborghini, partially submerged as streets turned into fast-flowing rivers.
Other videos shared by social media users showed some cars being swept away.
On Saturday, operations at Ibiza Airport were suspended for almost 90 minutes – forcing the cancellation of 24 flights – while the main motorway into the travel hub was also shut.
The mayor of Ibiza Town, Rafa Triguero, said: “All the council teams and services are working tirelessly to drain water and re-establish normality as soon as possible.
“The most important thing is that no one has been hurt.”
Triguero has urged people to stay indoors until the inclement weather has subsided.
Residents and tourists in Ibiza, Formentera and Mallorca were all sent emergency telephone alerts on Saturday evening advising against any unnecessary travel.
In Mallorca, 19 flights were cancelled. Across the Balearics, over 850 people were temporarily left without power after a lightning strike hit an electrical cable.
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Hi Ben. Please do your research properly instead of making Brits sound like the problem. The police were despatched to the supermarket because an elderly man had a very bad fall. Unfortunately a racist man decided to take to the FB to use it as an excuse to make it sound like Brits were fighting for alcohol and posted anonymously which is even worse.
Hi there
Thanks for clarifying some of what happened.