The DANA Returns to Catalonia and the Government Restricts Mobility in Tarragona

The DANA returns to the eastern Spanish coast and threatens Catalonia once again. The Catalan Government has activated all alarms, called for caution, and imposed mobility restrictions in five counties of Tarragona, which are expected to experience the heaviest rains according to weather forecasts. Heavy downpours are expected, especially in the towns of the Tarragona counties of Tarragonès, Baix Camp, la Ribera d'Ebre, el Baix Ebre, and Montsià. In all these areas, from 6 a.m. on Wednesday until midnight, citizens will have restricted mobility, schools and universities must close, sports activities will be suspended, as well as the closure of non-essential establishments, and teleworking will be encouraged. The Government will send alerts to the mobile phones of citizens in these areas to inform them of the preventive measures. Only strictly necessary travel will be allowed.

According to the forecasts of the Catalonia meteorological service, a rainfall intensity level of 4 out of 6 is estimated in the counties of Tarragona. In these same areas, the risk of flooding is 3 out of 6, with records that may exceed one hundred liters per square meter in 24 hours.

In parallel, the Catalan Government has reported this Tuesday that 16 campsites in Catalonia are in flood risk areas and may have to close in the future. The Catalan Government is preparing a risk map, which will be ready during the first half of 2025, to determine which activities, infrastructures, homes, or neighborhoods are located in flood-prone areas. Once the Catalan administration has all this updated information, it will have to decide on improvement actions, which could go as far as "relocating" and "moving away" all buildings erected in areas at risk of flooding, whether due to streams, ravines, or river rises.

In this situation, 16 campsites, mostly located in the Pyrenees, could be affected. "In cases where neither self-protection nor corrective measures can ensure the safety of people, there will be difficult decisions affecting specific activities and owners, and therefore, it must be done with the utmost rigor and also with maximum legal security," said the counselor and spokesperson of the Generalitat, Sílvia Paneque.