Fresh Spain floods wreak havoc on flights in Barcelona

City's El Prat airport partially flooded as 50 flights cancelled or severely delayed

A car stranded in flood waters in the Barcelona suburb of Castelldefels after torrential rain struck Catalonia. AFP

Fresh downpours sparked transport chaos in Spain on Monday, as anger spreads following the worst flash floods in the country's modern history. Barcelona's El Prat airport, Spain's second-busiest, said 50 flights were cancelled or delayed and 17 diverted on Monday, while the city closed some flooded metro stations and regional trains were suspended.

Images on social media showed cars ploughing through flooded roads in the Barcelona suburbs of Castelldefels and Gava and barefoot travellers wading through water that had seeped into El Prat. The death toll from Spain's floods stands at 217, almost all of them in the eastern Valencia region, with an unknown number of people remain missing and the country bracing for the discovery of more corpses.

The army sent about 5,000 soldiers over the weekend to help distribute food and water, clean up streets and guard against looters. A further 2,500 will join them, Defence Minister Margarita Robles told the state-owned radio station RNE. A warship carrying 104 marine infantry soldiers as well as lorries with food and water was approaching Valencia port as a strong hailstorm pummelled Barcelona some 300km to the north.

The national weather service Aemet announced the end of the emergency for Valencia but torrential rain struck Catalonia, where residents received telephone alerts urging caution. Regional authorities warned of potential landslides and more flooding. Spain is also grappling with the aftermath of an extraordinary outburst of popular anger in which crowds heckled and hurled mud at King Felipe VI, Queen Letizia and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

The Civil Guard has opened an investigation into the chaos in the town of Paiporta that cut short their visit on Sunday, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told the public broadcaster TVE. He blamed "marginal groups" for instigating the situation, during which mud was spattered over the monarch's face and clothes and a window of Mr Sanchez's car was broken.

The incident underscored growing anger at the authorities' preparation for and reaction to the catastrophe. Experts have questioned the efficacy of the warning systems that failed to alert the population in time, and the speed of the response.

"They were saying 'alert for water', but they should have said it was a flood," Teresa Gisbert, 62, told AFP in the destroyed town of Sedavi, saying she had "lost everything". Thousands of soldiers, police officers, civil guards and firefighters spent a sixth day distributing aid and clearing mud and debris as the search for bodies goes on.

However, relief only reached some towns days after the disaster and in many cases volunteers were the first to provide food, water, sanitation and cleaning equipment. On Monday divers concentrated their search for missing bodies in garages and a multistorey car park in the town of Aldaia. They also scanned the mouths of rivers, where currents may have deposited more bodies. "With drones we can send them inside the garages and have a first visual of what's going on," police spokesman Ricardo Gutierrez said.

The storm caught many victims in their vehicles on roads and in underground spaces such as car parks, tunnels and garages, where rescue operations are particularly difficult. Local authorities in Valencia extended travel restrictions for another two days, cancelled classes and urged residents to work from home to facilitate the work of the emergency services.

Storms coming off the Mediterranean are common at this time of year, but scientists have warned human-induced climate change is increasing the ferocity, length and frequency of extreme weather events. Rescuers used drones and water pumps to search and clear underground car parks and garages.

Opposition politicians accused the left-wing central government of acting too slowly to warn residents and send in rescuers, while the central government has said regional authorities are responsible for civil protection. The anger vented against all sides reflects a general disillusionment with the political class, analysts at Eurointelligence wrote in a note on Monday.

"If the aftermath turns into a big finger-pointing exercise, it will probably deepen that anti-politics sentiment," it said. Lack of clarity over the numbers of dead and missing has added to the frustration. A helpline has been set up for people to report relatives missing, with the government saying "dozens and dozens" are still unaccounted for.

Sonia Luque, co-ordinator of the Network of Road Assistance Companies (REAC), said more than 100,000 cars have been damaged. It was the worst flood-related disaster in Europe in five decades.