Help! Valencia floods/Alicante

[shreddies]

This is a bit of a long one the tldr is that I am in Alicante with my 14 yo having been diverted from Valencia last night. Obviously had we known how bad the situation was going to get we wouldn't have got on the plane.

Our flight back is on Saturday morning.

I am now thinking we should stay in Alicante and make our way to Valencia on Friday, but it's very hard to tell what state Valencia is in.

Does anyone have any recommendations for places to stay in Alicante (budget c £100)?

And are there any mumsnetters in the area who might be able to give me a picture of what is going on in Valencia? It is very hard to tell without speaking Spanish but looks as if half the city is still under water.

The worst of it is now past. The next few days should be pleasant. I’m near Torrevieja and it is a lovely place to stay? Especially if you are with children.
If you pm me I’d be happy to give you some advice regarding this area. Approx 30 mins from airport.

That's incredibly kind. I don't think I can private message in the app though ☹️. Do you think it would be stupid/irresponsible to go to Valencia? We only got to the hotel at 4am last night, I am finding it hard to think straight.

Honestly I think you will be absolutely fine.
The forecast between now and Saturday is quite pleasant. We are off to the beach today not too far away!
Go for it and make the most of it as the storm
has passed.

Thanks so much 🙏

Turn on sky news! Valencia
Hold off!!

Rapidly unfolding situation. Storms predicted to continue and tourists are advised to stay away, rescue operations underway.
Could you get a taxi to Benidorm?

Oh gosh. Ok we need to make another plan. Thank you. All we have fixed at the moment is a flight home from Valencia on Saturday morning

Our ideal would be a nice lovely town with shops, a historic quarter, and a beach. My DS is at that stage of wanting to do slightly more grown up things

Alicante is beautiful and has all of the above.
Benidorm (old part) is lovely and the zoo is stunning. Lots going on for Halloween.
If I were you I would look at travelling home from Alicante. Can you speak to the airline? We are also flying home Saturday from Alicante. There will be plenty of flight options. Hotel trivago for hotel deals? There are lots of bud routes from Alicante airport.

I am currently standing in València city centre looking for breakfast and it is 100% normal here! It’s a dry and pleasant morning so far, everyone is wandering around and eating. Our trains to Madrid look like they are running fine later this morning. Honestly, despite the four different emergency alarms that went off on our phones last night, it is fine. How are you travelling to València?

Valencia airport is currently cut off by the floods (have just heard from a friend stranded in Val). Stay where you are, hopefully all will be sorted by the weekend. Perhaps make contact with your insurance company or airline and ask about the possibility of changing to a flight out of Alicante as a contingency.

Here - dry and fine!

I’d contact the airline and get the flight changed to Alicante and find some accommodation in Benidorm

Sorry brain still fried. A taxi to Benidorm is a bit of a stretch ££ wise and also away from Valencia for the Saturday flight I'm hoping to get.

You can take the train to Valencia from Alicante, 2hrs, no changes needed.

I would email or call the accomodation you have booked in Valencia and check with them the situation in your exact location before travelling.

A bus could be an option if taxis are rather costly.

Take a deep breath.

First thing you need to do is talk to your accommodation contact and find out exactly how the land lies. What is the official govt advice? (Only because that has a bearing on your insurance).

If I was you, given you've not got a lot of time there really and things feel a bit chaotic, I'd get right out of dodge, so to speak. Jump on a train and go to Madrid. It's a brilliant city, there's no coast (obvs), you're well away from any flooding, tons of accommodation options as it's such a big city, and it's only 2 hours away by train.

We're in the hotel that easyJet put us in. The word from native Valencians is that the metro is down and there are no taxis from the airport. It is sunny and dry though. I think what we will do is spend the day and night in Alicante and hope to travel to Valencia tomorrow. We could have gone to the airport and been flown there if we left now, but we're timed out if that option now.

@TheHorneSection it's so confusing!

I tried to call the hotel but no one picked up all directed to website Agree that would have been a good idea.

Certain parts of Valencia are fine but others are a disaster, and there's more bad weather on the way. I would stay put and enjoy Alicante for now but keep an eye on the situation. Hopefully you'll be able to travel home from Valencia as planned but if not, you'll most likely be flown home from Alicante anyway.

I really like your thinking here. I think my tired DS might struggle a bit with that level of change.

www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/spain no advisories ATM that I can see

The above was for @HelloMyNameIsElderSmurf

So much helpful advice, thank you all, keep it coming, am googling all options!

I would consider travelling to Javea from Alicante or remain in Alicante if you’re flying back on Saturday

stay in Alicante just now. It’s lovely and has enough history, restaurants etc to keep you going until Saturday.

Spain is a resilient country and everything will be working again by the weekend for you to get your flight.