The Rain in Spain

Unfortunately flooding in Spain is not new. The rain in Spain turns dry ravines into dangerous raging torrents.

In 1957 and 1996 there was severe flooding in Valencia and Huesca. Both caused more than eighty deaths. “In 1957 something bad happened in Valencia and has been turned into something good. The river Turia flooded the city. Rather than strengthening the banks it was decided to divert the river and make the riverbed into a four mile long park, looping round the old city, more than fifty years before the High Line in New York was dreamed up.” (Blog Bellew, 30th October 2016)

On my first visit to Andalusia in 1988 Malaga airport was closed because of heavy rain and the rain didn’t stop. By the time we got to Seville tempers were short, particularly prior to a stiff, early matutinal gin and tonic. “I don’t want an effing umbrella”, snorted the younger daughter of an Irish Peer to a younger son of an IP.

I read recently, I forget where, an article explaining that dams built in Spain to prevent flooding have been repurposed as reservoirs to counter summer droughts. They were supposed to be left empty to allow flood water to accumulate. Worse, some dams have been removed to allow rivers to re-wild. I have seen the urban sprawl that has sprung up since 1988 and much of this is in flood risk areas.

As an antidote to Heavy Weather and Summer Lightning, If I were You I would turn to Wodehouse. If you are a Plummy, as PGW aficionados are sometimes known, you will have read all the short stories in this anthology but it’s a good choice for a bedside table in one of your visitors’ rooms or as a present for a neophyte. Having parted with £9.99 there is a reassuringly solid 320 pages in your grasp. I’m getting a copy to read on trains and ‘planes. There are direct BA flights from London to Seville …