Alicante has unexpectedly become one of Spain’s rainiest cities this spring, beating famously wet cities such as Bilbao and Vigo on one remarkable April day.
According to Spain’s state weather agency, AEMET, Alicante recorded 31.2 litres of rain per square metre on 12 April, making it the second wettest city in the country that day. Only Foronda-Txokiza in the Basque Country saw more rainfall, with 40.1 litres.
For a province better known for sunshine than storms, the figures raised a few eyebrows.
Mediterranean weather doing Mediterranean things
Despite the dramatic scenes of flooded streets, hailstorms and overflowing drains seen across parts of the Costa Blanca in recent weeks, climate experts say there is nothing unusual about it.
Jorge Olcina, director of the Climatology Laboratory at the University of Alicante, says rainy springs are a normal part of Mediterranean weather patterns.
“Spring is traditionally one of the wettest periods on the Mediterranean coast,” he explained, pointing to several recent DANA weather systems that triggered intense storms across the province.
The latest downpours left almost 30 litres per square metre at Alicante Airport and more than 22 litres in Alcoy, while towns across the province experienced thunderstorms and local flooding.
More unsettled weather still to come
And it may not be over yet.
Olcina says the atmosphere remains unstable due to repeated cold air masses arriving from the North Atlantic, helping storms to continue forming over the Mediterranean.
That unsettled pattern could last through the first half of May before temperatures begin to rise more steadily heading into summer.
Ironically, all this rain arrived during what Aemet has officially confirmed was the hottest April ever recorded in Spain since records began in 1961.
Average temperatures across the country sat 3.2 degrees above normal, continuing a long-term warming trend strongly linked to climate change.
What about the Alicante Hogueras weather?
Looking ahead, weather models currently suggest June could be especially hot across much of Spain.
But anyone already worrying about rain during Alicante’s Hogueras festival may need to be patient.
“It is still too early to say,” Olcina admitted.
