Copa del Rey matches featuring Valencia and Levante have been postponed due to devastating floods that have claimed at least 95 lives and wreaked havoc in southern Spain.
Tuesday's flash floods caused widespread destruction, sweeping away vehicles, transforming village streets into rivers, and disrupting rail lines and highways, marking one of the worst natural disasters in recent memory for the European nation.
In response, the Spanish league has decided to postpone all weekend matches in the Valencia region, including Valencia's clash with Real Madrid and Villarreal's showdown against Rayo Vallecano. Additionally, three second-division games are expected to be rescheduled.
In solidarity, clubs, football stars, and athletes such as Vinicius Junior, Luka Modric, Sergio Ramos, Diego Simeone and Thibaut Courtois took to social media to express their support for those affected.
"Real Madrid is deeply saddened and expresses its solidarity with all the people affected by this catastrophe, to whom it conveys its full support and sympathy,” the club said.
Both Madrid and Barcelona held moments of silence before their training sessions on Wednesday.
Spanish tennis players Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz joined in the messages of support, as did Formula One driver Carlos Sainz.
"Today was a sad day with the suffering and pain caused by the floods,” Nadal said on X. "Everyone's hearts are hurting seeing those images.”
Valencia was set to play Parla Escuela in the first round of the Copa del Rey on Wednesday, while Levante was scheduled to visit Pontevedra.
Other midweek Copa games in the southern region were canceled as well.
The season-ending MotoGP race in Valencia in two weeks is also in doubt after reports of heavy damage caused by the floods at the Circuito Ricardo Tormo.
Some basketball games also had to be rescheduled as travel was affected throughout Spain.
Rainstorms that started Tuesday and continued Wednesday caused flooding across southern and eastern Spain, stretching from Malaga to Valencia.
Muddy torrents tumbled vehicles down streets at high speeds while debris and household items swirled in the water. Police and rescue services used helicopters to lift people from their homes and rubber boats to reach drivers stranded atop cars.
