The 10 most serious natural disasters in the Balearic Islands: from Sant Llorenç to the floods in Ibiza.

PalmThe latest natural disaster to hit the Balearic Islands was the historic flood that hit Ibiza this week, when In just a few hours, nearly 300 liters per square meter fell.The rain, both intense and efficient, caused widespread flooding, road closures, damage to homes and businesses, and forced the Ibizan Council to request that Madrid declare it a disaster zone. This episode adds to a blacklist of natural disasters that, over the past few decades, have left a strong mark on the entire archipelago.

Palma airport flooding (2024)

June 11

This storm caused incidents in Mallorca and Ibiza at the gates of summer, but he targeted Palma airport. Around 4 p.m., 45 liters of rain fell in one hour, with peaks of up to 90 liters, causing flooding at the airport entrances, the terminal building, and the runways, which were completely flooded.

There were also numerous leaks and landslides in the commercial area due to the excessive accumulation of water—the roof of a fashion store collapsed. Two months later, on August 15, a storm episode caused severe flooding and tsunamis in Menorca., with significant damage in Mercadal and Alaior.

Double fatal accident in Cala Mendia (2021)

September 2

That morning, the storm surge across the Balearic Islands surprised a group of German tourists who had entered the sea in Cala Mendia (Manacor), despite the strong waves. Two young women, aged 23 and 25, drowned. This incident also caused torrential rains in the north and east of Mallorca.

Falling palm tree (2019)

November 4th

The strong wind that rose that day in the Parque de la Mar made the a palm tree above a mother and her daughterThe doll, which was seven years old, was injured. The mother died from the impact of the tree.

Torrentada in Sant Llorenç (2018)

October 9

The torrent of Sant Llorenç des Cardassar The flood claimed the lives of 13 people, and three hundred carcasses of livestock and domestic animals were found. More than 300 rescues were carried out, and 74 missing people were located. This flood caused damages worth more than €90 million. 4,820 tons of mud, debris, and damaged furniture were removed from the streets and public areas of the affected towns. The flow of the Sant Llorenç torrent almost reached that of the Ebro River in just 15 minutes, with a peak of 442 cubic meters per second.

The storm that shattered records (2008)

December 16

That day, the Balearic Meteorological Agency recorded the heaviest rainfall in Mallorca since 1979 in the town of Lluc in the Tramuntana Mountains, with 276 liters per square meter in 24 hours. The previous record had been set by the municipality of Fornalutx, where that same year 304 liters per square meter were recorded in a single day. The incident, which required the intervention of military personnel from Valencia and Madrid, led to more than 2,200 incidents, including the overflow of the Gros River on the outskirts of Palma and the evacuation of 120 people.

The Day the Sky Turned Black (2007)

October 4th

October 4, 2007, was a hot day in Mallorca, and in the middle of the afternoon, the sky turned black. One person died from the effects of the storm that swept in from south to north. Within minutes, up to 40 liters of rainfall were recorded in the outlying neighborhoods of Palma. A force 2 storm surge erupted, causing massive accumulations of water and strong winds of up to 130 km/h. Palma was crippled: kilometer-long traffic jams formed, roads were closed, and trees and roofs collapsed. The Son Moix sports center had to be evacuated after part of the roof collapsed. The storm also caused significant damage to the Can Valero industrial estate. The water level exceeded one meter, and four people were seriously injured, including two children. The event also affected Raiguer, Ibiza, and Formentera.

The storm that left Mallorca without power (2001)

November 10-11

Long considered the worst storm on record in Mallorca, it killed four people and leveled countless trees. It affected more than 12,000 hectares and caused damage to all types of infrastructure. The island's electrical grid was severely damaged, affecting more than 200,000 people.

'The Full of the Albufera' (1990)

October 8th

That day, 134 liters per square meter fell in Alcudia and 112 in Pollença, while more than 200 liters were recorded near the coast. Several hotels were flooded, numerous boats sank—many of them in the port of Sóller—and many roads were closed. Despite the magnitude of the damage, no fatalities were reported.

Flooding of the Corso de Portocolom (1989)

September 6

On September 6, 1989, Mallorca suffered a massive flood that affected the eastern part of the island. Three workers at the El Corso Hotel in Portocolom, who were on the ground floor when it flooded, and two more people in Ibiza lost their lives. A total of up to 380 liters per square meter of water fell. Material damage cost approximately 30 billion pesetas. Many urban centers were flooded, and 14 roads were closed and severely affected, including some sections of the road that had disappeared, three bridges collapsed, and many others were damaged.

A journey through time

Beyond the recent history of the Balearic Islands, there are three major natural disasters that devastated the geography of the Islands: the great flood of 1962, also known as 'healthy great flood' or the flooding of the melons in Arenal, because the water affected a warehouse with this fruit and carried the melons out to sea. It is said that for a week there were melons all over the Bay of Palma, as David Servera Costello and Salvador Vasco Vega recall.

Another unfortunate event was the drought of 1945, just after the end of the war. That year saw a long period of no (or very little) rainfall that lasted from February to August, as Dr. Miquel Grimalt notes in his article Droughts in Manacor and the east of Mallorca (1941 - 2001)).

We must also remember the flood of October 14, 1403. In Palma, a city of 20,000 inhabitants, the flooding and overflowing of the Riera caused some 5,000 deaths—their bodies remain in the basement of the Seu—and affected 1,500 homes. At that time, the catastrophe was dubbed 'The Flood'.

Grimalt explains, in his monograph Climate disasters in the Balearic Islands, that the heaviest rainfall recorded to date was on October 22, 1959, with over 536 mm at the Son Torrella station (Escorca). Considering the entire episode, from October 21 to 23, the accumulated rainfall amounts to an "overwhelming" 727.9 mm at Son Torrella and 598.8 mm at the Monnáber observatory (Fornalutx).