Generalitat requests confinement due to 'mini-Mediterranean hurricane' alert in Catalonia

This Saturday, the Generalitat has asked the population to stay at home and limit any movement to what is strictly necessary in light of the alert for a “mini-Mediterranean hurricane” that is expected to affect Catalonia early in the evening. Civil Protection has activated its highest alert level in the face of an episode that Meteocat considers exceptional, with the possibility of more than 200 liters per square meter accumulating in less than six hours, in addition to storms, very strong wind and phenomena such as sea waves or tornadoes.

The Minister of the Interior, Núria Parlon, has insisted that the alert implies “staying at home” due to the risk for people and mobility. The Government has restricted travel from 8:00 p.m. this Saturday until 2:00 p.m. on Sunday in much of the coast and pre-coast, while Renfe suspends a large part of the rail service and the Barcelona metro will close at midnight. Meteocat points out that it had never activated three red warnings simultaneously for intensity and accumulation of rain.

The president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, has reinforced the call after chairing a follow-up meeting of the Inuncat plan at the Operational Coordination Center of Catalonia (CECAT). "The situation cannot be underestimated. Stay at home," Illa warned, asking citizens of the affected regions to follow the instructions of Civil Protection and comply with the restrictions. The president has described the situation as “exceptional” and has appealed for “maximum prudence and responsibility.”

The limitations also affect sports, cultural and leisure activities, both outdoors and in closed spaces when they involve travel. In Barcelona, ​​parks, municipal markets, Tibidabo, the Zoo and Park Güell have closed and concerts and other cultural activities have been suspended. The Liceu, the Teatre Lliure and the Mercat de les Flors have canceled performances, while the Catalan Football Federation has suspended the day and other sporting events have been cancelled.

In transport, Renfe has suspended the Rodalies service since 8:00 p.m. — with some exceptions in Lleida and Tarragona — as well as the Regional and Medium Distance services in the Barcelona area. Several high-speed, Avant and Euromed services between Barcelona, ​​Girona and Figueres have also been cancelled, including some early on Sunday. The Barcelona metro will stop running between midnight and five in the morning. At the Barcelona-El Prat airport, widespread delays are also being recorded and complications are expected for the next few hours. The Vueling company offers free changes on flights from Barcelona scheduled until 3:00 p.m. on Sunday.

The Government has sent an alert this afternoon restricting mobility from 8:00 p.m. tonight to 3:00 p.m. this Sunday in the coastal and pre-coastal regions of Tarragona, Barcelona, ​​Girona and the regions of Osona and Moianès. Among the effects after the emergency call, the Liceu, the Teatre Lliure and the Mercat de les Flors have canceled their performances. The Catalan Football Federation has suspended the day and the Asisa Joventut-MoraBanc Andorra match in the Endesa League has been cancelled. Supermarkets have brought forward the closing of their establishments by two hours. Civil Protection and the Servei Meteorològic de Catalunya (Meteocat) have warned that the situation “can become very complicated” in the coming hours until reaching an “exceptional episode.” The maximum impact is expected around midnight and torrential rains may be recorded, with accumulations of more than 40 millimeters in half an hour and more than 200 liters per square meter in about six hours.

Weather models, according to emergency services, point to the formation of a mesoscale convective system (MCS), a large group of highly organized storms that can remain active for several hours and generate very intense rain, strong gusts of wind and even tornadoes and sea sleeves. It is this phenomenon that Illa has described as a “mini-Mediterranean hurricane.”

“All the warnings we have are activated and in red,” warned Sergi Segalà, head of the Prediction Area of ​​the Meteorological Service of Catalonia (Meteocat), in a press conference. Meteocat has raised the warnings for intense rainfall in 17 regions to the maximum danger level, 6 out of 6. The Inuncat plan remains on alert and Civil Protection will send an Es-Alert message this afternoon to mobile phones in the territories with the highest population density.

In Terres de l'Ebre, the rains fell again this Saturday morning with intensity after a few hours of respite. “It is raining in this area,” the emergency service has warned on social networks, reminding that the land is very saturated and that any intense storm can cause rapid flooding of streams and ravines and flooding in urban areas. Barcelona, ​​the central coast and the Costa Brava, where a good part of the Catalan population is concentrated, are also affected by bad weather.

Last night Civil Protection downgraded the Inuncat plan from emergency to alert after the intensity of the rainfall decreased. On Friday, the episode left exceptional records in the Montsià and Baix Ebre regions: L'Ametlla de Mar accumulated 246.9 liters per square meter; Les Cases d’Alcanar, 231.7; and Mas de Barberans, 226.7. In Perelló 154.8 liters fell in just three hours.

After several hours without precipitation, this Saturday morning the first arm of rain associated with the deep disturbance located off the coast entered the south of the Ebro delta. According to forecasts, rainfall will progressively advance towards the rest of the territory.

Despite the intensity of the episode, the Generalitat Firefighters have not recorded any serious incidents in recent hours. Its troops continue working in the Terres de l'Ebre to bail out water and clean basements and underground areas. Since the start of the storm, they have carried out 320 actions related to the rain.

Since Thursday, Civil Protection has received 663 calls to the emergency telephone number 112, mainly from Baix Ebre and Montsià. The Medical Emergency System (SEM), for its part, had responded to 43 alerts until last night with 39 people affected in Camp de Tarragona, Terres de l'Ebre, Penedès and the south of the metropolitan area of ​​Barcelona. Eleven of them, in mild or less serious condition, were transferred to health centers. The storm has also affected anomalies in the road network. The Servei Català de Trànsit reports that the C-12 between Amposta, Tortosa and Roquetes continues to be closed due to flooding.