A woman was killed by a falling palm tree in the Costa del Sol as torrential rains and 50mph winds battered large areas of Spain.
First responders raced to the scene in Torremolinos, in the province of Malaga, on Tuesday afternoon but were unable to save the woman, who fractured her leg and went into cardiac arrest, according to local reports.
More than a dozen witnesses called authorities after seeing the tree topple near the courthouse on Palma de Mallorca Avenue.A bystander and a Civil Guard officer both tried to help her before police, paramedics and the fire service arrived, according to El Sur.
The outlet reported that the woman, who has not been formally identified, was aged 31 and originally from Morocco.
The Torremolinos town council said in a statement on Tuesday: “We deeply regret to report the death of a woman this morning, caused by a falling palm tree due to strong gusts of wind.
“We wish to extend our sincerest condolences to her family and friends, as well as our full support during this time of grief.”
Spain has been rocked by the arrival of Storm Joseph, bringing rain, strong winds and snow. The wider province of Malaga has seen around a dozen incidents linked to the storm, with winds pulling down trees and dangling power lines.
In Mérida, the capital of Extremadura, authorities warned that heavy rainfall was putting the Albarregas River at risk due to rising water levels. Playgrounds and sports fields near the river were closed.
In Lugo, up in the northwest of the country, the storm caused a bridge to collapse on Tuesday. The Alto del Restelo crossing was overwhelmed by rainfall, technicians assessed. Two dozen snowplows and 64 personnel were also drawn in to clear the roads this week.
The Balearic Islands, off the east coast, were struck by violent weather from Storm Ingrid and Storm Joseph, prompting weather warnings.
A man was killed and a woman was left seriously injured after a 20-tonne boulder fell through their house in Menorca and crushed them during a landslide on Tuesday.
The huge rock, measuring some five metres across, crashed through the terrace of the building in Cala Sant Esteve, tearing through two floors and into the couple’s bedroom in the early hours of yesterday morning.
A dozen homes in the Fort Marlborough area were evacuated because of the landslide, while a crane was brought in to move the rock.
Flooding at the end of December killed a man whose van was swept away by an overflowing riverbed in Malaga. Another young person was killed while trying to cross a riverbed on a motorbike.
In Barcelona, a woman was hospitalised after being hit by a lamppost torn down by 40mph winds. Dozens of people in the region were also forced to evacuate from a building damaged by heavy rainfall.
