Heavy rain has caused major flooding across Mallorca, part of Spain’s Balearic archipelago. According to the Spanish meteorological agency, some areas received 43.8 litres of rain per square metre in one hour.
The airport area was particularly hard hit, leading to flight delays and landing difficulties. On Tuesday evening, Mallorca Airport was closed due to the severe flooding, bringing operations to a standstill and affecting scheduled flights, including a Luxair flight meant to return 120 passengers to Luxembourg.
The Luxembourg airline announced overnight that it was “actively working” to provide accommodation for all affected passengers. Luxair was not the only airline impacted, of course.
Local media reported that around a hundred flights were delayed or cancelled. According to Agencia EFE, operations resumed on Wednesday morning. Luxair is planning to operate two flights today to bring stranded passengers back.
On Tuesday, extraordinary images emerged from Mallorca Airport.
Runways were submerged, and several parts of the airport were under water.
Videos posted by travellers also showed water seeping through the roof and flooding a duty-free shop.
Similar scenes were filmed in the baggage reclaim area where windows failed to hold back the water.
Some passengers also captured footage of buses intended to transport them to their planes being completely flooded.
In one clip, an airport employee with an obvious sense of humour is seen diving into the water near the runways.
