It was I think 2008. Won a stay in a apartment in Calpe, Spain in a charity auction and went with 2 friends. At the time my voicemail notifications weren't coming through to my phone so I missed all the warnings from the apartment owner advising us not to travel, and only got them when we touch down in Spain.
They'd had some tsunami or massive flood (quote off the discovered voicemail...."I'm just looking at the webcam, and there's a car floated past on its roof" but you're welcome to still go if you really want") and the whole place was utterly devasted. There were just trees and branches and mud EVERYWHERE and shops were throwing ruined stock out onto the pavements, and people werepumping water from basements flats, and there were cars dumped everywhere. I just remember so much mud. We couldn't the get the hire car anywhere near the apartment so had to leave it and walk the last mile or so with our suitcases. The local river had burst its banks was flowing down the main road, and police were helping people cross by clambering over a massive pile of wooden crates. The only way to get the suitcases across was (and I still laugh thinking about it) on the land-train that the local theme park had loaned out, but they'd not figured out how to switch the music off! So I had to haul our suitcases into this train thing, with locals frowning at me taking up so much space (because it wasn't a tourist area, and most other nonresidents had had the sense to stay away) which merrily trundled its irritatingly musical way through the flood waters, with water lapping at the sides of the open carriages.
I found the apartment and went back to get my friends, we went back over the makeshift wooden crate bridge and found one of the few restaurants that was still open and enjoyed a lovely Chinese. Came out slightly tipsy, got stuck in mud so thick it pulled my sandals off, and had to get rescued by the passing fire brigade who were working late pumping flood water away. Literal firemans lift.
Got back to the main street, which still had the river flowing down in, to find the police had gone home for the night and taken the makeshift bridge down as it was considered unsafe without them there. Only choice was to just slowly wade through the flood water. I remember at one point my friend shouting "You know it's deep when your knickers are getting wet".
Got back to apartment to find the door wide open. It must have bounced back open when I slammed it shut behind me. Luckily nothing had been taken but it was TERRIFYING walking in with imagination telling you there might be a serial killer hiding behind a door. My friends were so cross with me being irresponsible one of them never spoke to me again (like EVER) and the other one spent all her time trying to get her to stop sulking because the atmosphere was so bad. I was desperate to make up and just enjoy the holiday but she wouldn't have. My boyfriend had driven us all to the airport, and when we arrived back in the UK her boyfriend was supposed to be picking us all up but she left us behind and went hike alone, leaving us to get a taxi.
Awful awful holiday. I was so out of my comfort zone and not very confident and she was just a horrible bully who I spent far too much time trying to appease. Despite the flood/mud/river trauma the worst bit by far was spending the whole week trying to avoid her kicking off at me.