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The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, said this Saturday through the short message service Twitter that the population should stay home due to the snow storm “Filomena” and follow the instructions of the emergency services. The president of the Madrid Provincial Council, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, announced that all schools and universities will be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Road, rail and air connections are interrupted. The Interior Minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, announced that there had been three deaths. He said it was a “relatively” small number given the “extremely difficult” climatic conditions. Among the dead was a man who was found buried under the snow in Zarzalejo, northwest of Madrid.
The Spanish meteorological service Aemet declared the center of the country a red alert. The regions of Madrid, Castilla-La Mancha (center) and Valencia (east) were the most affected by snowfall.
1,500 motorists who were trapped in the snow were freed with the help of snow plows. The interior minister warned that freezing temperatures of minus ten degrees or less could be expected in the coming days and that this could lead to black ice. The meteorological services predict that the cold wave, unusual in the country, will continue until Thursday.
Dog sledding in Madrid
In Madrid there was more snow than in half a century. Some residents used the place to ski, for example in the famous Puerta del Sol square. You could even see a sled pulled by dogs. Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida urged the residents of the capital not to go out in the street due to the “extreme situation.” The mayor added that emergency services were on duty to clear access to hospitals. However, this will be difficult while fresh snow is falling.
Madrid Barajas International Airport was closed on Friday night and should remain closed until further notice. Initially, 30 flights were canceled and almost the same number were diverted to other airports. The Atlético de Madrid vs Bilbao football match was postponed because the Basque team could not attend.
On Wednesday an unofficial national temperature record of -34.1 degrees was measured at an altitude of more than 2,000 meters at the private Clot de la Llança meteorological station in the Pyrenees.
