Flooding in the Tarragonès and Baix Penedès regions of Tarragona left 11 people injured, including one in a critical condition and another seriously injured, after heavy rain overnight on Saturday, according to EFE reporting. Roads, railway lines, campsites and ground-floor properties were affected.

For residents in affected towns, the immediate consequence was disruption to transport and flooded streets and buildings. The rainfall also prompted debate over why ES-Alert, the mass emergency message sent to mobile phones, was not activated.

Catalan government says forecasts did not meet alert threshold

Ramon Espadaler, Catalonia's Justice Minister, said the available weather forecast did not justify an ES-Alert for the affected parts of Tarragonès and Baix Penedès. He said forecasts from the Catalan Meteorological Service had not reached risk level 5 or 6 out of 6, the levels at which Civil Protection sends the alerts.

“It is not advisable to issue an ES-Alert without the necessary basis and quality information, which was not available at that time.”Ramon Espadaler, Catalonia's Justice Minister

Espadaler said emergency services responded quickly to incidents. He spoke from El Vendrell town hall after visiting several of the municipalities affected by the storm.

Meteocat says Civil Protection decides on mobile warnings

Sarai Sarroca, director of Meteocat, the Catalan Meteorological Service, said the service does not decide whether ES-Alert messages are issued. That decision belongs to Civil Protection under the Inuncat flood emergency plan.

“It is not Meteocat's job to send ES-Alert messages.”Sarai Sarroca, director of Meteocat

Meteocat issued a forecast warning for the area at level 3 out of 6, then raised it to level 4 at about 6pm on Friday, Sarroca said. The service also issued a monitoring warning at about 5.45am on Saturday, changing its colour from orange to red.

According to Sarroca, a level 4 warning forecast more than 90 litres of rain per square metre in three hours. She said Meteocat could not yet confirm whether the rainfall had exceeded its forecasts.

Reported by en.ara.cat, Por Newsroom Infobae Seguir, Sara González, Hugo Bernal, Joan Arcos, written by Lorraine Williamson, Diari ARA.