Heavy cloud in Port Adriano. | Photo: Miquel Àngel Mairata
Andrew Ede20/10/2026 07:30
Pablo Gárriz, the Balearic government's director general for emergencies, has responded to questions raised about the decision to cancel classes on Monday. "This was based on caution and safety in light of an exceptionally severe weather event."
He explained yesterday that the emergencies directorate had activated the IG-2 civil protection alert under the Meteobal plan - red alert - and had maintained 'operational status 2' of the Inunbal flood response plan in Mallorca, Ibiza and Formentera. Although the met agency had downgraded its weather warnings, "the saturation of the ground and stream beds, the overflowing of several streams, damage to infrastructure, and the closure of roads made it necessary to maintain a high level of alert and implement preventive measures".
"We activate special response plans based on Aemet’s warnings, the evolution of the situation and the actual impact. For this reason, civil protection alerts may not always align perfectly with meteorological warnings: our priority is to ensure public safety and preserve the response capacity of emergency services."
He stressed that there was no imposition of a "lockdown". "We were ensuring that the public’s actions aligned with the requirements posed by environmental hazards. If there is a high level of exposure, because of, for instance, a severe storm, the prudent course of action is to stay indoors. In situations involving immediate risk, such as the 'red alert' we faced on Sunday, this is no longer merely a recommendation. Public authorities have an obligation to ensure the safety of the population under all circumstances, and that is precisely what we are working to guarantee."
Aemet supported the decision to close schools for the day. "We presented all our models, which indicated that a mesoscale convective system - essentially a cloud structure capable of producing torrential rainfall - was moving towards Mallorca from Ibiza and Formentera." Spokesperson María José Guerrero reported on Monday that approximately 300 litres of rain per square metre had fallen over the sea just south of Mallorca overnight Sunday into Monday. Had this fallen on land, there would have been significant damage in Mallorca.
Gárriz accepted that rainfall in Mallorca was only of "moderate intensity". During the course of Monday, the heaviest accumulated rainfall was 54 litres per square metre in Lluc, with 53 in Sant Elm and 51 in Binissalem. By 7am on Tuesday, the heaviest was 28 in Es Capdellà, while up to midnight on Sunday the heaviest had been in Cabrera - 46 litres - with 34 in Campos. Yellow alerts for rain are in place for the whole of Mallorca until 12 noon on Tuesday, the alert for the south having been upgraded to amber until 8am.