The death toll from severe storms in the east and south of Spain reached 213 on Sunday and many people are still missing.
The emergency services in the hardest-hit Mediterranean region of Valencia said that 213 people are known to have died, the state broadcaster RTVE reported.
Severe weather continues to affect Spain’s Mediterranean coast. An orange alert – the second-highest level – is in effect in parts of the Valencia region, including the province of Castellón, where heavy rainfall may occur.
Recovery efforts are now in their sixth day. The search is particularly difficult in tunnels and flooded underground or multi-storey car parks.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced that a further 5,000 soldiers and 5,000 police officers would be deployed. The Spanish central government in Madrid says more than 3,600 military personnel are currently deployed in the worst-affected areas near the city of Valencia.
Previously, there had been harsh criticism, especially from the affected towns, which had been left to their own devices in the first few days. In many of the worst-hit 15 or so villages, roads are still blocked by piled-up cars or stranded household goods and covered in thick mud.
Help has now started to arrive in many of these villages, thanks in part to the efforts of many volunteers, and the power supply is also largely functioning again.
In the area west and south of the city of Valencia, an otherwise usually dry riverbed was turned into a raging torrent by the heavy rainfall on Tuesday and rushed towards the sea through several villages, causing severe damage.
