Spain dreads more flood deaths as rain pounds Catalonia

VALENCIA, Spain: Rescuers plunged into inundated garages on Monday to find victims of Spain´s deadliest floods in a generation as fresh downpours sparked transport chaos in the northeastern region of Catalonia.

The toll stands at 217 dead -- almost all in the eastern Valencia region -- with the country dreading the discovery of more corpses as an unknown number of people remain missing. National weather service AEMET announced the end of the emergency for Valencia but torrential rain struck Catalonia, where residents received telephone alerts urging the utmost caution.

Barcelona´s El Prat airport, Spain´s second busiest, said 50 flights were cancelled or delayed and 17 diverted on Monday, while the city closed some flooded metro stations and regional trains were suspended. Images on social media showed cars ploughing through flooded roads in the Barcelona suburbs of Castelldefels and Gava and bare-footed travellers wading through water that had seeped into El Prat.

Spain also grappled with the aftermath of an extraordinary outburst of popular anger in which crowds heckled and hurled mud at King Felipe VI, Queen Letizia and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

The Civil Guard has opened an investigation into the chaos in the ground-zero town of Paiporta that cut short their visit on Sunday, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told public broadcaster TVE. He blamed “marginal groups” for instigating the violence where mud spattered the monarchs´ face and clothes and a window of Sanchez´s car was broken.