A further 500 soldiers are being deployed to the Valencia region amid criticism of local authorities over their response to the catastrophic flooding that has hit Spain in recent days. More than 200 people are known to have died,

BARCELONA—As Spaniards start to clean the mud and mourn their dead, people are searching for answers as to why the floods brought such devastation to the Valencia region.Valencians are familiar with the regular drenchings of the “gota fría” or “cold drop”—heavy rainfall that forms when a mass of cold air sweeping quickly across Spain hits the warm,

Adan Ortell Mor had a 7:30 p.m. appointment to cut a client’s hair at his salon in La Torre, Valencia, on Tuesday night. But when the client called to cancel because traffic was bad, it may have saved Mor’s life. Instead, he went home and saw reports ...