Red flood alert issued for Guadalhorce river in Malaga province after a night of intense rain

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The emergency services have spent the night alerting residents in the Doña Ana and rural areas of Cártama of the river breaking its banks. In a post on social media, the town mayor said "this is looking bad again"

Chus Heredia

Malaga

Sunday, 28 December 2025, 07:32 | Updated 07:38h.

The heavy downpours of rain that fell during the late hours of Saturday and the early hours of Sunday, with high volumes concentrated in a very short time, have caused the river flows in many parts of Malaga province to rise sharply. One of the most dangerous areas is always that of the Guadalhorce as it passes through Cártama, where there are many buildings in flood-prone areas. As a result, just after midnight, the Junta de Andalucía's Hidrosur network issued a red flood warning. The river's flow measured 1,053 cubic metres per second (more than 1 million litres), very close to its historic level. The depth was close to 5.5 metres. Cártama Estación was already suffering serious problems with its road connections.

Much of the nourishment of the lower course of the Guadalhorce is produced by the river Grande, which collects the flows of the Sierra de las Nieves. On its passage through the Aljaima measuring station, already flowing into the Guadalhorce, it measured 274 cubic metres per second and reached a depth of 1.16 metres. To give an idea of the amount, the flow injected into the Malaga city network is 1,600 litres per second. These inflows are used on the surface at the weir located at this point, in the municipality of Cártama. This is water that is not stored, so only what the system can use in real time can be used. The regulation of the Río Grande with the pending Cerro Blanco dam would be key to containing the river's floods.

River network sensors down

Upstream, the Río Grande itself registered a depth of 1.11 metres and a flow of 15.41 cubic metres per second at the Las Millanas measuring station.

The rest of the province's watercourses remain without warnings. In fact, at another of the regular trouble spots, Campanillas, the river was flowing at just 1.8 cubic metres a second after midnight. This river, regulated by the Casasola dam, is a tributary of the Guadalhorce on the left and has recently been the scene of numerous episodes of flooding and evictions. The channelling of the urban section of the river is still pending.

The Turón river on its way through Ardales on its way to the Conde del Guadalhorce reservoir also registered floods but no alert. At around one o'clock in the morning it measured 14.85 cubic metres a second. This is another river which overflowed on several occasions at the beginning of the year during the 'Danas' and storms.

The Genal as it passes through Jubrique indicated a depth of 0.63 metres after one o'clock in the morning, by which time most of the Hidrosur network sensors were down. The river was approaching a yellow alert level at that time.

The town halll of Cártama in Malaga has reported that the A-7057 road between the town and Estación de Cártama has been cut off following rainfall in the area, which remains under a red warning for rainfall.

On the other hand, the mayor of Cártama, Jorge Gallardo, in a post on social media networks, also warned of the flooding of the Guadalhorce river, saying that it has broken its banks. "This is looking bad again," said Gallardo. The emergency services were alerting residents in the Doña Ana area and in the rural areas of the river's flooding.

The council has also raised the municipal emergency plan to phase 1 due to the heavy rainfall and the red warning. The town hall has asked for maximum care and urged people not to travel. Caution should also be exercised in the streets due to manholes that may be raised.

Similarly, it is recommended to avoid areas near rivers and streams due to the possibility of flooding. Local Police, Guardia Civil officers, Civil Protection volunteers, fire brigade staff and town hall operatives are on the ground to deal with any incidents that may arise.