Majorca’s airport had to be closed on Tuesday after torrential rain flooded the runways.
A heavy storm brought the airport on the largest of the Balearic Islands to a standstill as flights were grounded and water poured through the roof of the terminal.
Videos posted to social media showed one airport worker, dressed in shorts and a high-visibility yellow jacket, gleefully plunging backwards into the water on a flooded runway.
Another video showed torrents of rainwater cascading into a duty-free shopping area.
There was dramatic footage of a car struggling to drive through a flooded parking lot and bedraggled tourists wandering around in wet clothes.
Another car was shunted out of the floodwaters by a yellow digger past a row of half-immersed motorbikes and scooters.
Holidaymakers told the Majorca Daily Bulletin, the island’s English language newspaper, that they encountered “chaos” as the rain hammered down.
Palma airport, the third biggest in Spain, had to be closed because of the “impossibility of operating safely”, the airport operator AENA said in a statement.
Flights to the island had to be rerouted to alternative destinations and roads around the airport were closed because of the intense flooding.
As the rain subsided, the airport began resuming operations.
“The first take-offs and landings have already begun, and the diverted flights are expected to land at Palma airport during the afternoon. The airport continues to work to normalise operations. The airports authority recommends passengers to check with their airline before travelling to the airport,” a spokesman for the airport said.
The national weather agency, AEMET, said its station at the airport recorded rainfall of nearly five centimetres (two inches) per hour, with peaks of up to nine centimetres in less than an hour.
Neighbouring Ibiza was also hit by heavy rain. More rain was forecast for the islands on Wednesday and Thursday.
One of Europe’s most visited destinations, Majorca is particularly popular with British and German tourists but there has been a recent backlash against the impact of mass tourism.
Locals staged protests in the capital, Palma de Majorca, and on the island’s beaches, saying they can no longer put up with summer tourist hordes, heavy traffic and unaffordable rents.
More protests are planned for this Sunday, June 16.
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