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Barcelona experienced flooding on Monday, as search and rescue operations are ongoing in the aftermath of severe flooding that affected Valencia last week.

Spain's state meteorological agency has placed parts of Catalonia on red alert for torrential rain, with local media showing footage of cars partially submerged on a highway.

Parts of the Barcelona's El Prat airport, the second largest in the country, have been flooded. More than 80 flights have been cancelled or delayed, while rail services have been suspended.

A similar weather event, which hit the Valencia region last week, has caused at least 217 deaths. On Monday, rescuers focused their efforts on searching for missing people in underground car parks. The storm caught many victims in their vehicles on roads and in underground spaces, such as car parks, tunnels and garages, where rescue operations are particularly difficult.

Police have confirmed that no victims were located in the first 50 vehicles inspected at the site. Spanish police were using drones to get an initial view of the inside, a police spokesperson said. There has been anger at a perceived lack of warning and insufficient support from authorities after the floods.

On Sunday, the king and queen of Spain were pelted with mud and other objects by angry protesters during a visit to the town of Paiporta - one of the worst-affected in the Valencia region.

Objects were also thrown at Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who was quickly evacuated.

In a news conference on Monday, the chief of Spain's Military Emergencies Unit (UME) said it had pre-deployed 500 troops to Valencia so they could begin working as soon as they were authorised to. General Francisco Javier Marcos said that when he saw the situation worsen, he sent alerts to 1,000 soldiers, who travelled overnight "so that by dawn the next day, people of Valencia could see that the armed forces were there".

Local authorities in Valencia have extended travel restrictions for another two days to facilitate the work of the emergency services, cancelled school classes and urged people to work from home.

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