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Such events are rare in the region and tend to be disruptive to
daily life and mobility, coming at a time when people are
returning home after Christmas and New Year holidays. This year,
however, there is less traffic than usual due to restrictions to
curb the coronavirus pandemic.
As heavy snow started falling, auhtorities said large parks in
Madrid, including the famous Retiro next to the Prado museum,
would be closed from Friday afternoon as a precaution.
With up to 20 cm (nearly 8 inches) of snow forecast in 24 hours
and temperatures expected to hover around zero centigrade for
much of the day, the south of the Madrid region, including the
capital, is on its highest level of alert for the first time
since the system was created in 2007.
Ruben del Campo, a spokesman for the State Meteorological
Agency, said the city was probably facing the heaviest snowfall
at least so far in the 21st century.
"Perhaps we would have to go back to the snowfall of February
1984 or to that of March 1971 to find similar precedents if the
forecasts we are expecting are correct," he added.
Light snow already blanketed Madrid on Thursday, a day after
Spain registered the lowest temperature ever recorded on the
Iberian peninsula, of -34.1C, in the Pyrenees in the north.
The storm Filomena is advancing through Spain after hitting the
Canary Islands with strong winds and rain.
In Gran Canaria, a ferry with 59 passengers and 17 crew ran
aground on Thursday night due to the strong winds when entering
the port of Agaete.
On Friday the coastguard were towing the ferry to the port, with
passengers and crew still onboard, unhurt.
(This story corrects to Spanish spelling of Filomena)
(Reporting by Emma Pinedo and Cristina Sanchez, editing by
Andrei Khalip and Gareth Jones)
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