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The Spanish Government has declared that no fewer than 12 autonomous communities in Spain have been severely affected by the extreme weather events that have occurred over the past 6 months. Between September 16 last year and March 24, 2025, a dozen regions have fallen under what’s known as a civil protection emergency.

 

Incredibly, this doesn’t even include the DANA that hit the Valencian Community in October, over which more than €16.5 billion in aid has already been paid out.

 

Over the last few months, March has been a stand-out with relentless torrential rain that has claimed lives, destroyed roads and caused public transport to grind to a halt.

 

In the wider 6-month period, the areas that have been pinpointed as emergency zones are located in Madrid, Castilla y León, Extremadura, Andalucía, Castilla-La Mancha, the Region of Murcia, Catalonia, La Rioja, Aragon, the Balearic Islands and Galicia, explained Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska.

 

Between September and March, the National Emergency Monitoring and Coordination Centre (CENEM) of the Directorate General for Civil Protection and Emergencies recorded 53 episodes of extreme weather, including low-pressure systems, heavy rainfall and storms.

 

These resulted in widespread personal injury and material damage.

 

Some of the heaviest rain and snowfall hit between March 2 and 5 in Andalucía, Castilla y León and Murcia, where one person was killed. Storm Jana also had a massive impact, bringing torrential downpours and flooding to central Spain and extraordinary increases in water levels in the Tagus, Duero and Ebro basins between March 6 and 11.

 

Likewise, storms Konrad and Laurence caused heavy snowfall in mountainous areas of the Cantabrian Mountains and the Central System between March 12 and 20, as well as intense rainfall in Murcia and Andalucía, where four people died.

 

Finally came Martinho, the last of the March storm series, carrying intense and continuous rainfall between March 20 and 24.

 

The Government has declared the state of emergency in response to the significant damage and disruption caused by these events. The declaration will allow for the provision of support and aid to those affected, including individuals, businesses and public infrastructure.

 

As Minister Marlaska explained, "These incidents have caused personal injury, including damage to infrastructure and public and private property, which justify the intervention of the General State Administration.”

 

 

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