Just published on the UK Government website:
Warehouse fire near Barcelona
An industrial warehouse fire in Catalonia has resulted in a chlorine gas cloud over parts of the region south of Barcelona. If you are in the area you should follow the advice of authorities and monitor local updates, including staying indoors and keeping doors and windows closed.
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Barcelona (Catalonia)
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Everything’s okay now—my sister lives there.
It was a pretty localised incident, in a few towns south of Barcelona. There was an industrial fire at a chlorine production plant in Vilanova i la Geltrú (about 40 km from Barcelona). Because chlorine reacts with water—from the firefighters’ hoses—it released an irritating gas, so they issued an orange alert asking people in Vilanova and nearby towns to stay indoors.
The fire broke out overnight, but the emergency response was fast. They activated the Catalonia Chemical Emergency Plan right away, and specialised teams had it under control within a few hours. The shelter-in-place order was lifted around noon.
Sitges, which is just 10 km from Vilanova, wasn’t affected at all—and Barcelona, even farther north, didn’t notice a thing. It’s just been a regular Saturday here.
https://www.vilaweb.cat/noticies/incendi-quimic-vilanova-confinament-garraf-baix-penedes/
By the way, tomorrow there’ll be some disruptions on the R2 South train line, which runs through that area—but it’s totally unrelated to the incident. They’re just doing scheduled improvement works, and they usually carry out these service interruptions on weekends. So, if anyone plans to head toward Sitges, Vilanova, Cunit, etc., it’s a good idea to check the Rodalies website for info on replacement bus services.
Enjoy!