Madrid deep in snow - what is the government doing?

Madrid has been hit with 50 centimetres of snow, a first since 1971. Around 1,500 people were stranded on motorways, in some cases for up to 15 hours. The mayor asked the central government for help, and it sent in the military to rescue the stranded and distribute supplies. But the government's slow response is being criticised by media across the political spectrum.

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El Mundo (ES) /

The storm didn't come without warning

The PM reacted far too late, El Mundo complains:

“Sánchez reacted to this major storm as he did in early 2020, when his government ignored serious warnings about the pandemic. It's almost as if his team at Moncloa Palace don't believe the warnings of their own official bodies - possibly because having put so many of their friends in charge, they no longer trust them. In any case, the State Meteorological Agency warned on Thursday night that a snowfall of historic proportions would hit Madrid and other provinces.”

eldiario.es (ES) /

The answer to all crises: stay at home!

Columnist Antón Losada also can't resist the temptation to draw comparisons with the pandemic management, and comments mockingly on eldiario.es:

“Then came the umpteenth call for us to stay at home; the new magic formula for dealing with problems. No foresight, no planning, no crisis management, no resources, no personnel, no budgets - just stay at home, and problem solved! Naturally, there was the obligatory press conference in which the government tried to turn the crisis into an example of its excellent management and explained that we should be grateful to it for sending in the army to help in the early hours of the morning.”