Mallorca: Due to flooding and gusts, travelers should stay at home on Tuesday

Palma. The winter depression “Juliette” hit Mallorca, the favorite holiday island of Germans, on Tuesday with gusts of wind almost hurricane force and heavy precipitation, some as snow. The authorities urged locals and holidaymakers to stay at home. Many interurban roads were impassable because of snow or fallen trees, as the “Mallorca Zeitung” reported.

In the island’s capital, Palma, the roadway of important roads collapsed in two places. Nobody got hurt. Videos showed how construction workers were busy in the morning closing an eight meter wide and four meter deep hole in an asphalt surface. The reason was probably an underwash.

Waves up to eight meters high in the north of the island

Storm gusts with wind speeds of sometimes more than 100 kilometers per hour lashed waves up to eight meters high on the rocky coasts, especially in the north of the island. In the archipelago, the Tramuntana, the snow cover grew to up to half a meter in some places during the night on Tuesday. The day before, many curious onlookers had made their way to the mountain village of Valldemossa to play in the snow. This caused long traffic jams on the roads.

Sometimes it also snowed in the lowlands and even on the beaches. But the snow didn’t stay long in the bathing bays. Palma and the Ballermann were largely spared from the white splendor. A few snowflakes only formed in the higher-lying Son Vida district, where ex-soccer player Bastian Schweinsteiger lives, among others.

Storm low should be gone on Wednesday

The heavy rain caused considerable damage in some cases. In Pollença, a picturesque village in the north, 171 liters of water per square meter fell within 24 hours. Normally small streams became torrents and submerged the shore areas. Cellars and underground garages were also full.

The storm should be gone on Wednesday. However, more flooding is feared when temperatures rise again and the snow in the mountains melts.

RND/dpa