MADRID: A winter storm lashed much of Spain for a third day on Tuesday, leaving 200,000 people without electricity, schools closed and roads blocked by snow as it killed four people.

Massive waves and gale-force winds smashed into seafront towns, damaging many shops and restaurants and flooding some streets.

One video showed a powerful wave crashing over a seafront wall and sending water cascading toward the street and nearby buildings in Cala Ratjada on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca.

Ports on the nearby island of Menorca have been closed for two days, the La Vanguardia newspaper said.

Another video showed the swollen Onyar River in the northeastern city of Gerona gushing past buildings and almost touching the bottom of some bridges. Authorities warned there was a risk it could break its banks.

Much of Gerona province was without electricity for several hours because of a fault in the power connection with France, emergency services said on Twitter.

Many schools remained closed in the northeastern region of Catalonia as well as the Valencia region further south and the inland region of Aragon, Spanish media said.

Traffic authorities said dozens of roads remained impassable because of the snow, including the A7 highway between the northeastern town of Figueres and the French border.

The storm, which whipped up on Sunday, has so far claimed lives of three men and one woman.

Published in Dawn, January 22nd, 2020