Spain and Portugal were hit by renewed storms and torrential rain on Saturday, claiming another life just days after deadly flooding and widespread damage caused by Storm Leonardo.
In Portugal, the latest weather system—named Storm Marta—prompted the deployment of more than 26,500 emergency workers.
A 46-year-old volunteer emergency responder died on Saturday while attempting to cross a flooded area, according to local media — the first fatality linked to Storm Marta.
The extreme weather forced three municipalities to postpone a presidential vote scheduled for Sunday by one week.
Storm Kristin killed five people when it swept across Portugal last week, while Storm Leonardo claimed another life on Wednesday.
The Iberian Peninsula is among the regions most exposed to climate change in Europe and has endured increasingly prolonged heatwaves and more frequent, intense rainfall in recent years.
Both Spain and Portugal issued fresh flood alerts, with the storms blocking hundreds of roads, disrupting rail services and forcing thousands of people to evacuate.
Thousands evacuated
In Spain, large parts of the south — particularly Andalusia — were placed on orange alert on Saturday, along with the northwest, where heavy rain and violent storms were forecast.
“We have never seen such a series of storms,” said Andalusia’s regional president, Juan Manuel Moreno, describing the situation as “complex”. He said dozens of roads had been cut off, rail traffic largely suspended and more than 11,000 people evacuated.
The agricultural sector had been severely affected, and repairs to damaged roads were expected to cost more than 500 million euros ($590 million), he added.
In Cordoba, authorities closed the pedestrian-only Roman bridge over the Guadalquivir river as a safety precaution.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez held a crisis meeting on Saturday, a day after visiting flood-hit areas.
Residents evacuated from Grazalema, one of the hardest-hit towns in Andalusia, were housed in a sports hall in the city of Ronda.
“I was told yesterday this would last a long time,” said Jesús Ramírez, a 37-year-old resident. “It won’t be a week or two—it could be longer.”
“There are many children who are suffering,” said Nieves de los Santos, a 67-year-old pensioner.
Sevilla FC announced that its home match against Girona, scheduled for Saturday evening, had been postponed by the authorities to ensure public safety.
Deadly series of storms
Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro said 2026 had been a “particularly unusual year”, marked by “exceptionally violent” weather conditions.
Several landslides were reported in Portugal, though authorities said there were no casualties.
The risk of flooding from the Tagus River in the central Santarém region remained at its highest level, officials said.
Further south, in Alcácer do Sal, water levels in the Sado river had receded to the riverbanks.
Meteorologists said Storm Marta was expected to move north and begin pulling away from Portugal by the end of the day, on the eve of the second round of the presidential election.
Portugal was still recovering from Storm Kristin—which killed five people, injured hundreds and left tens of thousands without power—when Storm Leonardo struck earlier this week.
One person died during Storm Leonardo and 1,100 people were evacuated nationwide, authorities said.
A succession of weather systems forced Portugal’s dams to release “a volume of water equivalent to the country’s annual consumption” in just three days, said José Pimenta Machado, head of the Portuguese Environment Agency.
Several hundred kilometres further south, Morocco has also been hit by violent storms, displacing around 150,000 people in the north-west of the country in recent days.
