Roads turn into rivers on the Costa del Sol: Flood-hit Spain issues rare 'red weather alert' warning in Brit holiday hotspot
Torrential rain hit Spain's Costa del Sol with dramatic footage capturing flooded roads, fallen trees and destroyed vehicles as the region braces for more bad weather.
By TARYN KAUR PEDLER, FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER
Published: 14:35 GMT, 28 December 2025 | Updated: 14:44 GMT, 28 December 2025
A flood-hit Spain has issued a rare 'red weather alert' after the popular British holiday hotspot was left battered by a violent storm.
Torrential rain hit Spain's Costa del Sol with dramatic footage capturing flooded roads, fallen trees and destroyed vehicles as the region braces for more bad weather.
Spain's national weather bureau issued an unprecedented emergency response overnight after floodwaters reached worrying levels.
Red weather alerts for 'extreme danger' were issued across 27 municipalities in the Malaga region. Emergency services received hundreds of reports.
The Sol and Guadalhorce are among the hardest hit areas, and authorities are urging locals and tourists to not leave their house.
Images and video clips taken from the area showed roads turned into rivers as large, floating mounds of debris-filled mud swept away cars and trees.
Vehicles can also be seen bobbing through the murky waters as the strong currents swirl around them, leaving tourists and locals trapped in their buildings.
Authorities said floodwaters at some places were 'several meters in height'.
Torrential rain hit Spain's Costa del Sol with dramatic footage capturing flooded roads, fallen trees and destroyed vehicles as the region braces for more bad weather
Red weather alerts for 'extreme danger' were issued across 27 municipalities in the Malaga region. Emergency services received hundreds of reports
En España, la Agencia Estatal de Meteorología activó la alerta roja en la Costa del Sol y el valle del Guadalhorce, en Málaga, ante la previsión de hasta 120 litros de lluvia por metro cuadrado en doce horas.
El temporal ha provocado inundaciones, daños materiales y accidentes… pic.twitter.com/MlNHCmmFso
— Noticiero El Salvador 🇸🇻 (@NoticieroSLV) December 28, 2025
The rainfall began to fall in the western areas shortly after midday on Saturday and also swept across Malaga province from west to east, dropping significant amounts of rainfall and leaving a trail of incidents such as flooded streets, houses and garages.
The torrential downpours also caused a part of the bridge over the Los Caballos river in Tolox to collapse and a pine tree to fall in the area known as the 'white curve, which connects Casarabonela with El Burgo, forcing the road to be closed.
During the night the attention was focused on Cártama, where the A-7057 road linking Maqueda with Estación de Cártama was cut off due to the water levels.