Barcelona’s Port Olímpic has endured one of its wettest days since records began, with torrential rain leaving parts of the city under water and emergency services stretched.
The downpour coincided with Catalonia’s National Day, when 118.9 litres of rain per square metre were measured at the Port Olímpic weather station — of which 71.3 litres fell in just one hour. The intensity overwhelmed drainage systems, flooding streets and triggering dozens of emergency calls.
Civil Protection kept the Inuncat flood risk plan active throughout Thursday and Friday, warning of potential flash floods across coastal and pre-coastal areas, as well as parts of central Catalonia and Girona. The Meteorological Service of Catalonia (SMC) reported that the heaviest rainfall was concentrated in Baix Penedès, Garraf, Baix Llobregat, Barcelonès, Maresme and Vallès.
Barcelona’s fire brigade carried out around 40 interventions, while emergency hotline 112 received 55 rain-related calls within the city. The municipal government also activated its emergency protocol in response to drainage saturation, though the alert was lifted later in the evening once the rain eased.
Despite the disruption, meteorologists noted that the episode fits within a broader pattern of increasingly extreme weather in Catalonia, where intense rainstorms are becoming more frequent.
The Port Olímpic downpour serves as a stark reminder of Barcelona’s vulnerability to heavy rain, raising questions about how the city will adapt its infrastructure to cope in the future.
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