Palm Sunday brings peace to Old Spain
In Barcelona, thousands knelt before the altar in Plaza de [Cataluña]… Throughout Spain, and particularly in the cities along the Mediterranean coat, joyous crowds strolled in the plazas and along the boulevards after church services.
Torrential rains hit the industrial center of Barcelona yesterday [report published November 5], spilling the new waters into areas still recovering from last September’s savage floods.
Officials said damage was heavy in Barcelona and the nearby towns of Tarrasa and Sabadell. The rains continued late last night.
No casualties were reported.
Swirling waters flooding some low-lying areas destroyed temporary railway bridges in Moncada and Las Arenas that were erected after the original bridges were washed out in September.
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Road and railway communications between Barcelona and Tarrasa and Sabadell were cut but telephone communications functioned normally.
An explosion Sunday ripped through a downtown four-story apartment building, burying at least 24 persons under 13 feet of rubble and partly collapsing two adjoining buildings, police said.
Police said rescuers recovered four bodies and freed 21 persons from the wreckage, some of them in critical condition. A search for others believed trapped under the debris continued.
The 8:30 a.m. blast was Barcelona’s second explosion disaster this year. First police reports suspected a leaking gas pipe – the same reason initially given for the explosion that destroyed a luxury block of flats in March killing 18 persons.