The Balearic holiday islands of Ibiza and Formentera escaped with limited damage on Tuesday after torrential rain brought flooding, school closures and beach shutdowns.
The storms struck a day after the eastern Valencia region – where Spain endured its deadliest floods in decades with the devastating ‘DANA’ flooding that claimed 235 lives there last year — was also put under the maximum weather alert for heavy rain. ALSO READ: After more flooding in Valencia, storm eases but puts Balearics on orange alert.
According to Spain’s national weather agency AEMET, Tuesday’s ‘extraordinary’ rainfall marked the wettest day in Ibiza since at least 1952. The island, famed for its beaches and nightlife, saw unprecedented volumes of water.
AEMET reported that a monitoring station in the town of Ibiza provisionally measured 254 litres of rain per square metre within 24 hours, ‘more than half of the usual rainfall in a whole year in the area’.
Videos shared on social media captured scenes of people trudging through waist-deep, muddy water along a beachfront lined with palm trees, bars and restaurants, with emergency sirens wailing in the distance.
Streets turned into rivers of brown water, sweeping away large rubbish bins and forcing vehicles to crawl forward.
The Balearic Islands’ regional government said emergency services responded to 179 incidents in Ibiza and six in Formentera. Most were linked to flooded basements, blocked roads, downed trees and urban debris, as well as swollen rivers.
Authorities confirmed that three people suffered minor injuries after a landslip near a hotel, but no serious casualties were reported.
The army’s UME emergency unit joined local teams, bringing reinforcements from Mallorca and the mainland to help clear roads and pump water from affected buildings. Several roads remained closed into the evening.
A mass telephone alert was sent out to residents on both islands, warning them of the risks. Schools were suspended and beaches closed as a precaution.
Officials later confirmed that all schools in Ibiza town would stay shut on Wednesday, reopening on Thursday once safety checks on buildings were completed.
By Tuesday evening, AEMET had withdrawn the red weather alert for Ibiza and Formentera.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez expressed concern on X, urging citizens to ‘exercise caution and follow information from official channels’.
In Valencia, a red alert issued on Monday led to the closure of schools affecting over half a million students, reviving painful memories of last year’s disaster. Click here for all our reports related to the Valencia Floods.
Experts say climate change caused by human activity is amplifying extreme weather, including intense rainfall and flooding, as a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture. Scientists note that the Mediterranean is warming at speed, with oceans absorbing 90 percent of the excess heat generated since the industrial era.
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Así están las calles inundadas en Ibiza. La UME ya está activada por las consecuencias de las intensas lluvias, que han dejado dos heridos graves y cuatro heridos leves.
📽@laurahzurriaga (@RTVEBalears)
Sigue la información minuto a minuto: https://t.co/GQ0VYzE8pQ pic.twitter.com/fLH89hBYKf
— RTVE Noticias (@rtvenoticias) September 30, 2025
Durante la noche, unidades de la @UMEgob han realizado las siguientes misiones en Ibiza:
✅ Limpieza y baldeo en autovía del aeropuerto.
✅ Achique de agua en viales afectados, en viviendas y garajes.#Compromiso #Servicio #Humildad pic.twitter.com/YkkgGhtyLU— UME (@UMEgob) October 1, 2025
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