Fresh flooding disrupts air, road travel on Spain's Ibiza

MADRID (AFP) — Flooding wreaked transport havoc on the popular Spanish holiday island of Ibiza for the second time in two weeks on Saturday as more torrential rain lashed the country's Mediterranean region.

Ibiza — famed for its pristine beaches and wild nightlife — closed the main motorway to the airport, where social media footage showed rainwater seeping into the terminal, and briefly halted all public transport.

All operations at Ibiza airport were halted for more than an hour while the runway was cleaned, with 24 of 295 flights cancelled, according to operator Aena.

On the neighboring island of Mallorca, 19 of 942 planned flights were canceled.

Vehicles were slowly ploughing through murky floodwater in Ibiza and neighboring Formentera against a backdrop of a dark sky, thunder and lightning, with some drivers requiring rescue, according to videos on social media.

Reinforcements from the Spanish army's emergencies unit were being deployed from the mainland to aid water pumping tasks.

Ibiza, Formentera and Mallorca sent mass telephone alerts warning residents to avoid unnecessary travel and waterways.

A lightning strike left 576 users without power after hitting an electrical cable in Formentera, while around 300 other users were also affected across Menorca, Ibiza and Mallorca, the Balearic regional government said.