Rain, floods, violent winds... The Iberian Peninsula was swept away on Saturday by Storm Marta, particularly in Andalusia, in the south of Spain, and in Portugal, where a volunteer firefighter died in a river. A lull is expected on Sunday. The Iberian Peninsula is on the front line of climate change in Europe and is experiencing increasingly frequent and intense episodes of heavy rain.

Published on: 02/08/2026 - 07:44

The Iberian Peninsula was swept away on Saturday February 7 by Storm Marta, with heavy rain and violent winds particularly in Andalusia, in the south of Spain, and in Portugal, where a volunteer firefighter died operating in a river, before an expected lull on Sunday.

This new Dantesque episode occurred after the passage in the middle of the week of the Leonardo depression in the region, having caused two deaths in Spain and another in Portugal, a country which has suffered a series of "exceptionally violent" climatic phenomena since January, in the words of the Portuguese Prime Minister, Luis Montenegro, on Saturday.

The Iberian Peninsula is on the front line of climate change in Europe and is experiencing increasingly long heat waves and increasingly frequent and intense episodes of heavy rain.

In Spain, it was again in the region of Andalusia that heavy rains and gusts were concentrated on Saturday, according to the national meteorological agency, Aemet. The northwest, but also the capital Madrid, also suffered intense rains.

“We have never seen such a series of storms,” said Andalusian President Juan Manuel Moreno during a press briefing.

Dozens of roads remained closed in the evening and rail traffic remained largely suspended. In total, “more than 11,000 people” have been evacuated from their homes in the affected areas in recent days.

By accumulating the material damage caused in the region by the Leonardo and Marta depressions, "the economic impact will be several million euros", warned Juan Manuel Moreno, with "the agricultural sector hard hit" and more than 500 million euros in repair work on the roads.

“We are worried”

Faced with this “unprecedented” situation, the region “will request” help from the Spanish State and the EU Solidarity Fund, used in the event of major natural disasters, he added.

In the morning, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez held a meeting in Madrid to follow up on the bad weather, the day after a trip to the affected areas in Andalusia, where he said he was "upset".

In Córdoba, the famous Roman bridge which spans the Guadalquivir River, located near the mosque-cathedral, has been closed to traffic. A children's playground was completely underwater, noted an AFP journalist on site.

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“We are worried,” admitted Hilario Díaz, a 41-year-old local driver.

Regional President Juan Manuel Moreno, however, clarified that the water level of the Guadalquivir had fallen slightly, according to the latest available reading.

Evacuated from Grazalema, one of the most affected Andalusian municipalities, some residents were, for their part, welcomed in a large gymnasium in the town of Ronda, 130 km south of Córdoba.

“Yesterday, I was told it was going to last a long time,” before returning home, Jesus Ramirez, 37, told AFP on the spot: “It won't be a week or two, it could be more.”

Lull expected on Sunday

Also affected by the Marta depression, neighboring Portugal has been experiencing intense climatic episodes for several weeks, "a particularly atypical year", Prime Minister Luis Montenegro recognized on Saturday.

The first victim officially recorded, a firefighter died "during a patrol operation" on the banks of a river in the center of the country, civil protection announced in a press release.

According to local media, this 46-year-old firefighter was swept away by water while trying to cross a flooded area.

In the process, the Ministry of the Interior expressed its condolences, specifying that the victim was a gendarme who was taking advantage of a day off to serve as a volunteer firefighter.

Elsewhere in Portugal, landslides were reported by civil protection, with no known victims there.

According to meteorologists, the Marta depression will begin to move away from the country, a few hours before the start of the second round of the presidential election, organized on Sunday. A lull is also expected in Spain, where only a few provinces are expected to remain on orange alert on Sunday, before a return to normal expected on Monday.

Read alsoPortugal: in the second round of the presidential election, a moderate favorite against the far right

The successive violent bad weather in the area has also affected Morocco, where 150,000 people have been evacuated in recent days in the northwest of the country, in the face of bad weather.

With AFP

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