Andalucía floods: Cadiz village evacuees unlikely to return home 'within a week'

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For specialists and geologists to assess the state of the area, it must first stop raining and the water must drain

Friday, 6 February 2026, 15:45

Head of the Andalusian regional government Juanma Moreno believes it will be "very difficult" for the evacuees from the Cadiz village of Grazalema to return to their homes within "six or seven days".

As SUR reported, the residents had to leave their homes and take shelter in Ronda (Malaga) on Thursday due to the risk of landslides and floodings caused by storm Leonardo. In the last few days, the impact of the storm has reached historic figures for Andalucía.

According to Moreno, the return to the village has to happen after specialists and geologists have assessed the state of the land and the infrastructure. For this to happen, the rain has to stop and the water must drain.

Such a possibility is not likely in the next week given the latest forecast of the state meteorological agency (Aemet), which predicts the arrival of a new storm on Saturday. The weather expects improvements from Wednesday, 11 February.

Moreno acknowledges that evacuations, especially for so many days, disrupt "people's daily lives". For him, however, "prevention is better than cure" and these operations are necessary to prevent deaths and serious incidents.

"We will act with a lot of foresight and we know that this creates inconveniences, but the main objective of the emergency plan is to save lives," Moreno said. Despite these inconveniences, he added, the evacuated residents are feeling "reasonably well".

This preventive measure has impacted around 1,500 residents. The regional government and the emergency services had set up shelters in the El Fuerte sports centre in Ronda, but some preferred to go to the homes of relatives and friends. Others sought accommodation in hotels.

Moreno also thanked the residents of Ronda who have opened their homes for the Grazalema flood victims.