At least four dead in Spain as its heaviest snowfall in 50 years buries large parts of the country
A woman uses a dustpan to remove snow from the entrance of her house during a heavy snowfall in downtown Madrid Source: AP
A blizzard has buried large parts of Spain in the heaviest snowfall seen in 50 years, killing four people and causing chaos across the country.
Storm Filomena has forced authorities to mobilise troops to rescue some thousands of trapped motorists, while skiers glided down Gran Via, normally one of the busiest streets in Madrid.
A man and woman travelling in a car drowned after a river burst its banks near Malaga, southern Spain.
Two homeless people froze to death, one in Madrid and the other in the eastern city of Calatayud, authorities said on Saturday.
Interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska urged Spaniards to avoid all but essential travel.
“We are facing the most intense storm in the last 50 years,” he said.
More than 650 roads were blocked by snow, said Grande-Marlaska, leaving some drivers stuck in their cars from Friday night until Saturday.
King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia expressed their sorrow for the victims and asked the nation to take “extreme caution”.
Patricia Manzanares had been trapped in her car on a Madrid motorway since 7pm on Friday.
“I have been stuck here without water or any other help,” she told RTVE television.
Aena, which controls the country’s airports, said Madrid’s Barajas airport, which was closed on Friday night, would remain shut for the rest of Saturday.
It said at least 50 flights to Madrid, Malaga, Tenerife and Ceuta, a Spanish territory in North Africa, were canceled.
The State Meteorological Agency said it was the heaviest snowfall in Madrid since 1971, while Jose Miguel Vinas, a meteorologist from Spanish National Radio, said that between 25 cm and 50 cm had fallen in the capital, which he said made it the largest snowfall since 1963.
Atletico Madrid’s football game against Athletic Bilbao, scheduled to kick off on Saturday, was postponed, La Liga said in a statement.
