THE RAIN IN SPAIN

Apart from the famous song ’The Rain in Spain’ from the 1956 hit musical ’My Fair Lady’, Spain is a country rarely associated with rain. That has been particularly true recently as parts of the Iberian Peninsula - including Catalonia - have been subject to a historic drought that has lasted three years.

However, all that changed at the end of last month when eastern and southern parts of Spain, the region of Valencia above all, were hit by catastrophic floods that wreaked havoc and have so far claimed the lives of over 200 people. You can read a summary of what happened on pages 12 and 13 of this magazine.

Soon after the disaster hit, for work I got to talk to a climate change expert who provided some interesting context for the so-called DANA storm that caused the destruction. As the rain-laden clouds for these storms are caused by cold air blowing over warm Mediterranean waters, increases in temperature caused by global warming could make these types of episodes more likely, he told me.

The expert was also very critical of how the disaster was handled and he suggested that the emergency response to the red alert was slow and insufficient, while local people had not been prepared for how to act in such an emergency. In the future, better forecasting and planning will be required, he argued, so as to help people who live in areas vulnerable to such episodes, due to the geography of the local area, to adapt to the new climate reality. In other words, it looks like the rain in Spain is here to stay and the best we can do is learn to live with it.

While Valencia was being battered by vicious storms, I was in England visiting my family in Liverpool. Conversely, the UK is a country associated with bad weather and yet during the five days I was there it only rained once, briefly, while the temperature seemed fairly warm for late October and the sun came out at frequent intervals. In a few decades, I wondered while looking at the terrible images of Valencia, will my grandchildren be among droves of tourists seeking hot and sunny British beaches just to get some respite from the relentless rain in Spain? Unlikely, I decided, although those of us who live in the Mediterranean may have to get used to seeing a lot more rain that we have been accustomed to.

And so it proved. I arrived in Barcelona to black skies and a deluge that made me curse my decision five days ago to come to the airport by motorbike. I had thought myself very clever choosing the motorbike over other transport options. Parking for motorbikes is free at the airport and close to the terminals. I have two large panniers on my bike that my helmet and boots fit into, and as all I had with me was cabin baggage it seemed a no-brainer. What’s more - and here’s the clincher - what were the chances that it would be raining when I got back?

Well, quite high as it turned out, and so I waited for the rain to stop, thereby losing the time advantage gained from using the motorbike. When the rain eased, I decided to just go for it and take my chances. Only a few minutes after getting on the motorway, however, the heavens opened once more and though I fortunately managed to get home in one piece, I resembled the proverbial drowned rat. A week later, my boots still haven’t completely dried out.

Welcome to Spain, and the rain.

Opinion