#orihuela

Cointec Office - Orihuela, Spain - Dot Partners - via Minimalissimo ____

Alberto Campo Baeza, Public Library, Orihuela, 1992

Hey, if you’re not from here you might not know about it, but this week has been the week of the Cold Drop in Spain, as usual, with a lot of inundations and non-stop raining after 3 / 4 months of drought. 

Except it isn’t. This year, the weight of the inundations has made the Segura River, which flows mainly in the province of Murcia, and that throughout the year needs a trasvase from the bigger Tagus river to be able to provide water to the crop fields, to overflow. Here is a comparison of the river normally and how it is now, in the city of Orihuela, the most affected place and right now inaccessible:

The most affected areas of this year Cold Drop are in the Southeast, namely the provinces of Murcia and Almería, both of them known for having a Semi-Desertic Mediterranean Climate, and being really arid and with little to no rain most of the year. As you can imagine, this has been devastating. For now, 4 people have died, but the number could increase, as there’s no sign of the Cold Drop to stop soon. I might add that in Almería there is Tabernas, the only natural desert in Spain, that is, well, a freaking desert. Here is how its main town, Tabernas, normally looks like vs now:

In Murcia city, things are also bad, with the Segura river just about to overflow. Note that this city has over 400.000 people, so it would be really bad if it overflows. Again, normally vs now:

Overall, it seems pretty bad. Here are more photos of the Cold Drop:

Overflowing of the Clariano River in Ontinyent, Valencia.

Denia, Alicante.

San Pedro del Pinatar, Murcia.

Murcia city.

Segura River overflowing in Orihuela, Alicante.

Ontinyent, Valencia.

Molina de Segura, Murcia.

Ontinyent, Valencia

Gandía, Alicante.

Molina de Segura, Murcia.

Orihuela, Alicante.

Orihuela, Alicante.

Murcia.

Mallorca.

Almería Province.

The Palmeral of Orihuela, Spain (second largest in Europe) after torrential rain in December 2016.