Spanish tourist hotspot goes into lockdown amid flood disaster as almost 2,000 reported missing in Valencia
A SPANISH tourist hotspot has been placed on lockdown as the country prepares for more devastating floods - as 2,000 people have been reported missing in Valencia.
Palma, Majorca, is expected to take the brunt of the storm with homeless people being evacuated and tourists desperately urged to stay indoors.
The number of people killed by the floods has risen from 205 to 207, according to Spanish interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska.
The total number of dead will likely climb much higher as more bodies are discovered with 1,900 people already registered as missing.
Speaking to Cadena SER, Grande-Marlaska confirmed: "It is reasonable to think that we will have more deaths."
Now the Balearic Island is preparing for a deluge with the main promenade in the city taped off and public buildings closed.
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Videos have already emerged online of parts of Palma flooding with 120mm of rain forecast to fall in just three to four hours.
Palma's first deputy mayor, Javier Bonet told locals to leave their homes only if "absolutely necessary".
He said: "We are not on red alert, but it is essential to warn the population to avoid greater risks."
Families are frantically trying to find their loved ones as time runs out and the region's hospitals teeter on the "verge of collapse".
Many bodies could be found in cars on secondary roads that have not yet been searched.
Experts have found new records within the horrific rainfall as around 42 litres of rain per square metre fell in just 10 minutes in one Valencian town.
This is equivalent to a whopping 1.7 inches of water.
Thousands of sodden, abandoned cars covered in brown sludge litter roads around Valencia after the flooding turned them to rivers.
On Thursday, 600 people who were registered as missing were found.
Officials are now going through the grim process of identifying the bodies - with a team of 100 forensic experts only solving 17 so far.
Search and rescue workers are going car-to-car as many people are thought to have drowned inside their motors as they returned from work when the flash floods hit.
The mayor of Chiva warned Thursday there were still “hundreds of cars turned upside down and they will surely have people inside them”.
Others were killed because they went down to move their cars, worried about flooding.
One survivor told the Telecinco TV channel: "There are almost certainly more people who have died because the water washed people away who had got out of their cars."
Thousands of volunteers are travelling from the area to help with the cleanup and continue the search for bodies.
With some roads closed, huge queues of people are forming as they march into the disaster areas with brooms and shovels.
Soldiers are also on hand, with Spanish armed forces deploying another 750 soldiers to the Valencia region on Saturday - meaning 2,700 soldiers are to be on the ground in total.
Psychologists have also been sent by the government to help the survivors deal with the trauma of the event.
A whopping 64 people have now been arrested for looting, with five men accused of robbing a flooded jewellery store, according to .
Around 15,000 homes remain without electricity and railway services between Valencia and Barcelona have reopened.
As bodies are identified stories are emerging about who they were, including a 71-year-old Brit who died in hospital.
Among those tragically killed in the horrific flash floods is a former Valencia CF player.
The Spanish football club has paid tributes to José Castillejo, 28, a midfielder who also played for teams like Torre Levante, Paterna and Eldense.
It said in a statement: ";We regret the death of José Castillejo, a victim of the Dana disasters.
"He was part of the club's Academy until his youth stage and has played for several teams in the Valencian Community. RIP."
The horrifically high death toll has sparked outrage among residents, with some accusing Spanish authorities of not warning people about the dangers posed by the weather soon enough.
Dramatic footage has been shared of how the flash floods in Valencia turned roads into rivers in a matter of minutes.
Shocking footage shared on social media by residents of the Spanish city and surrounding areas comes as the death toll for the disaster hits 205.
Two clips shared online show the speed at which the devastating flash floods took over the streets and gave inhabitants little to no time to flee.
An off-duty police officer from Benetusser revealed how he saved the lives of two of his neighbours with a rope made of bedsheets when the flash floods hit the region.
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On Saturday thousands of volunteers gathered at the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia to begin the massive clean up in the worst-hit areas of the city.
The number of people who registered to help is at over 100,000, according to the Valencian Community Volunteer Platform.
Why was Spain hit by flooding?
Spain was hit by flash floods after the east of the country was hit by a meteorological phenomena known as a 'DANA'.
A DANA, or a 'cold drop' is technically a system where there is an isolated depression in the atmosphere is at high levels.
In layman's terms, more warm and moist Mediterranean air than usual was sucked high into the atmosphere after a cold system hit the country from the south.
The easterly wind then pushed all those clouds and rain into eastern Spain.
Three to four months of rain fell in some places over the space of 24 hours.
The DANA system hit southern Spain as it arrived from Morocco yesterday and is now expected to head west over southern Portugal.