Flood in rural northwestern Spain kills two, injures two babies

A combination of flooding and a landslide triggered by torrential rain caused the death of two elderly women and the injury of two infants in a remote village of northwestern Spain on Saturday, officials reported.

The emergency services of the Castile and León region confirmed that a woman in her 60s and another near 80 died, bringing the total fatalities to three senior citizens in the incident.

Police stated that the impacted pair of babies presented bruising, while a third individual—a man in his mid‑eightys—was reported missing but later located unharmed.

Firefighters, law enforcement, ambulances, and Civil Guard units were dispatched to the devastated site, as illustrated by rescue‑helicopter footage showing rugged, forested slopes engulfed in water and debris.

Local authorities noted that images captured by media revealed a muddy, stone‑laden torrent sweeping through the village and flattening a vehicle.

Mayor Marco Morala of the nearby municipality of Ponferrada explained that fierce hillstorms generated massive flows of rocks, mud, and sludge, leading to the tragedy.

The disaster also inflicted substantial property damage on the adjacent settlement of Bouzas, Morala added.

The flood arrived during a national public holiday, occurring amid weeks of contrasting extremes across the nation—heatwaves and intense wildfires—as the country battles a difficult climatic season.

Leon province, which includes Manzanedo de Valdueza, experienced some of Spain’s most destructive 2025 wildfires, marking a record year in terms of hectares burned nationwide according to the European Forest Fire Information System.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

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