Spain's flood nightmare continues as heavy rain hits Barcelona, Valencia tries to dig out

Barcelona, Spain — The recurrent storms in eastern Spain that led to massive flooding last week and killed at least 217 people, almost all of them in the eastern Valencia region, dumped rain further north Monday on Barcelona, prompting authorities to suspend commuter rail services and reroute flights as some highways were inundated.

Spanish Transport Minister Óscar Puente said he was suspending all commuter trains in northeast Catalonia, a region with 8 million people, at the request of civil protection officials. Cell phones in Barcelona screeched with an alert for "extreme and continued rainfall" on the southern outskirts of the city. The alert urged people to avoid any normally dry gorges or canals.

Puente said the rains had forced air traffic controllers to change the course of 15 flights operating at Barcelona's airport, located on the southern flank of the city, and the national airport operator later said a total of 50 flights at the hub were cancelled on Monday.