Fifty small boats moored in San Sebastián marina sank yesterday as storms continued to batter Spain's north coast for the second day in a row.

Huge waves up to 16 metres high breached sea walls, flooding streets and properties in seaside towns across Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque country while gale-force winds of up to 100km an hour uprooted trees, tore off roofs and blew down billboards.

The worst now seems to be over, however, with improved conditions forecast for the northern third of the peninsula from today onwards though an orange severe weather alert remains in place in Galicia.

The photo shows the damage done to the dining room of a hotel on Santander seafront by a car swept away by a freak wave. 

Four injured in Galicia storms
By: thinkSPAIN
Tuesday, March 11, 2008

The tail end of a storm that has been battering the UK since the weekend has also being making its presence felt in northern Spain.

Four pedestrians were slightly injured yesterday in A Coruña when a huge wave crashed over the maritime promenade where they had gathered to watch the storm. A lamppost, a bench, numerous shrubs as well as three cars were swept away as 8-10 metre high waves breached the sea wall near the Avenida de Buenos Aires roundabout, which was temporarily closed to both pedestrians and traffic yesterday evening.

In neighbouring Asturias, a huge steel sculpture weighing several tonnes was ripped from its moorings on Luarca's new quay where part of the sea wall collapsed. The scuplture was installed in September 2005 and is a tribute to Nobel Prize winner, Severo Ochoa.

Further east, a cargo ship moored in Pasajes port broke into three parts after being dashed against rocks though there is no evidence at this stage of environmental damage. Severe weather alerts remain in place today and further heavy rain is expected though wind speeds are expected to fall as the day progresses and temperatures are forecast to begin to rise.