Mallorca flooding: Balearic tourism chief says island safe to visit

Ten people, including two Britons, have died in the flash floods

Following the flash floods that hit Mallorca earlier this week, the director of the Balearic Islands Tourism Board has moved to reassure travellers that the island is safe, and the floods were an “isolated incident”.

Ten people, including a British couple who were swept away in a taxi, have died after torrential rain and flash floods left streets swamped. The muddy water was described as “biblical”.

The flooding happened in the town of Sant Llorenc des Cardassar, around 40 miles east of Palma. Most of Mallorca’s tourism trade is on the west coast of the island.

Hundreds of emergency services workers are working on the clean-up effort.

Jaume Alzamora, director of the Balearic Islands Tourism Board, said that the floods were the “first of their kind to happen in the Balearic Islands in 80 years”.

He added: “The floods were contained to the small area of Sant Llorenc in the north east of the island and have not affected Mallorca’s main tourist destinations with hotels, restaurants, as well as other tourist infrastructure remaining open and fully functional.

“The tourist board is working in solidarity with the local Mallorcan community to rapidly clean up and repair the affected area. We would like to reassure visitors that the rest of the island is unaffected and we ask that British holidaymakers and the travel industry support us with continuing their holidays as planned.”

The FCO updated its Spain guidance earlier this week to say that the flooding has caused ”significant disruption and some road closures” and that travellers should “follow the advice of local authorities”.

Thomas Cook, which sells holidays to Mallorca, said in a statement to The Independent: “All of our hotels are operating as normal. There were some small temporary power cuts and an impact on bus transfers on Tuesday night, but everything is back to normal. Customers are advised to get in touch if they have any concerns.”

Palma Airport is open and operating as normal.