Lorraine Williamson
A severe windstorm has put parts of Catalonia on red alert, turning a forecast into a live disruption picture on one of the busiest travel weekends of Semana Santa. By Sunday, authorities had confirmed injuries, transport problems and emergency alerts to mobile phones as a polar air mass pushed bitterly cold conditions across northern Spain.
The most serious incident reported so far happened in Camarasa, in Lleida, where a woman and two children were injured after part of a roof structure was ripped away by the wind. They were taken to the hospital. In the north-east, gusts reached around 168 km/h in Portbou, underlining the scale of the storm hitting Catalonia’s northern edge.
Roads and rail services hit during Semana Santa travel
The storm quickly spread to the transport network. Roads were affected by fallen debris and dangerous conditions, while rail services on sections of the R3 and R11 were suspended as a precaution. Even before the worst of Sunday’s winds, officials had warned that trains would not run on the Figueres-Portbou and Vic-Ripoll stretches for at least part of the day because of the expected conditions.
Emergency alerts sent to six comarcas
Catalan Civil Protection sent an Es-Alert to mobile phones in six northern comarcas: Solsonès, Berguedà, northern Cerdanya, Ripollès, Garrotxa and Alt Empordà. Residents were urged to limit travel and avoid outdoor activities. Authorities also activated the Ventcat and Procicat emergency plans as the storm combined strong winds, mountain snow and rough sea conditions along the Costa Brava.
Why Catalonia was hit so hard
The wider national backdrop came from AEMET’s special Semana Santa forecast, which warned that Sunday 29 March would be marked by the arrival of a polar air mass over mainland Spain and the Balearics. That forecast pointed to a sharp fall in temperatures, strong northerly winds and snow levels dropping to roughly 400 to 700 metres in parts of the north. Catalonia has been one of the first places where that warning has become a visible disruption.
Hundreds of emergency calls underline the scale
As the day went on, the scale of the episode became clearer. Emergency services in Catalonia received hundreds of calls linked to the wind, while firefighters dealt with a large number of incidents involving fallen objects, damaged roofs and other storm-related problems. The situation reinforced just how quickly a warning-led weather story can become a public safety issue.
What travellers need to know now
For anyone travelling through or towards Catalonia, the message is straightforward: check road conditions, rail updates and official weather warnings before setting out. What began as a red-alert forecast has already become a serious travel and safety story, with injuries, service interruptions and dangerous gusts across some of the busiest routes of the holiday weekend.