January 14th, 2021
One of the first things I learned about Spain when I first arrived was that it doesn’t snow and if it does it is only in the outskirts. The idea of it snowing downtown, in the city, where I live, is completely absurd. Spaniards laughed at me when I was excited for it to snow in winter because snow was out of the question.
A miracle happened this year. Whether that be a good or bad miracle, that’s up to every individual person to decide. Borrasca Filomena hit Madrid starting on January 7th, 2021. Borrasca (snowstorm) Filomena decided to rage on until January 9th. But in the span of 3 days, Filomena was able to deliver about 50 cm/19.7 inches of snow. To this day there is still a blanket of bright white snow covering the sidewalks and clear ice waiting for their next innocent victim to pass.
On this first day of Borrasca Filomena, I was walking down Gran Vía in Madrid, one of the most famous streets in Madrid that features shops galore. That first day all the snow that fell melted on the streets and slowly accumulated on coffee shop terraces. But the people of Madrid started to prepare for the following days.
Soon after, my roommate and I arrived home and fell asleep quite peacefully to wake up to the next day with a stronger snowstorm raging. This time about 20 cm/ 8 inches had accumulated and we decided to celebrate and go outside and build a snowman and become kids again.
This day Uber was still working and people could still drive around but that was about to change.
The next day was the most chaotic day of snowstorm Filomena. The remaining 30 cm/12 inches fell. Again, my roommate and I went outside to play in the snow. In some places it reached my knees, keep in mind my height is 1.67 m/ 5 foot 6 inches. All the roads were completely filled with snow, the roads were non-existent, meaning no cars could pass. The hilly roads of Madrid became ski slopes (yes, you read that right) and tubing sites. A few people chose to travel by skis that day. It is the happiest I’ve seen people in a long time. Adults became kids again. Many adults had not seen this much snow in their whole life. This snowstorm had been like no other. A snowstorm like this hadn’t happened in several decades.
Now Madrid has had their streets plowed, the airport is finally functional again but the sidewalks are still covered in snow and too much ice. About half of the trees in Madrid were affected by this snowstorm. All parks are currently closed. Trees fell on top of cars, cars haven’t moved in days from being snowed in. We don’t know when the snow will go away, but until them we can proudly say that it snowed more here in Madrid than some places in the northern part of the United States.
I hope you all have a fun winter season, wherever you may be. Whether that is summer or winter for you, I hope you find enjoyable and safe activities to do. Talk to you soon!
Sincerely,
The Eternal Traveler