· The operation includes a total of 227 snow removal machines, more than 2,000 tons of salt and 2.3 million liters of brine

· To respond to all adverse events that occur in the Community of Madrid between November 1, 2025 and April 30, 2026

· Special attention will be paid to points located at altitudes above 1,000 metres and on the access roads to the capital

Madrid, November 18, 2024.- The Government delegate in Madrid, Francisco Martín Aguirre, has presented today at the M-40 North Road Conservation and Exploitation Center, the Plan of Actions before Snowfall in the State Road Network in the Community of Madrid 2025-2026, which is intended to ensure road safety in the State Road Network and reduce to a minimum the number of sections with traffic restrictions or retentions and their duration, through adequate coordination. In this regard, the delegate said that “The Government has done its homework and everything is ready on the road network of the Community of Madrid”.

He has also indicated that the current campaign represents “a sustained investment” in media and personnel that translates into a total of 227 snow-removing machines, 107 brine distribution machines (water with salt), 2,312,000 liters of brine distributed in 28 plants and 2000 tons of salt.

In addition, almost 30,000 places are planned for compulsory parking of trucks in the parking areas (29,739) and 101 control points for the establishment of traffic restrictions in the Community of Madrid.

In addition, the automatic sprinklers of snow caps will be activated when necessary to avoid accidents and retentions in especially sensitive areas, where snow-removing machines have a complicated access. Among others, those located in Las Rozas (A-6) at the entrance of the Bus-VAO and at the accesses to the Somosierra tunnel.

The objective, he stressed, is “to guarantee the road and safety during episodes of snowfall and other adverse meteorological phenomena” throughout the network of roads of the State in the Community of Madrid.

Francisco Martín has also taken stock of the previous campaign, describing it as “very good” since no significant incidents were recorded and it was not necessary to activate the state protocol at any time. For this 25-26 campaign, information and anticipation will be reinforced with the help of agencies such as AEMET, which provide “accurate and anticipated information” on adverse weather events.

The event was attended by: the provincial head of Traffic of Madrid, Cristóbal Cremades Rodríguez; the lieutenant colonel of the Traffic Group of the Civil Guard of Madrid, Benito Monzón Rodríguez; the head of the State Road Demarcation in Madrid, Gloria María Ramos Palop; the engineers of the State Road Demarcation in Madrid, José Ignacio Cuñado Arroyo and Andrés Hernández Sancho; and the head of the Conservation and Exploitation Center of Roads Ardo M-40 Norte, Geánla Pérez.

Civil Traffic Guard

In addition to these resources, the Traffic Sector of the Civil Guard in Madrid will have 735 agents specially dedicated to the Snowfall Plan, who may have specially equipped vehicles to intervene in situations of intense snowfall or frost, in order to avoid traffic problems.

A wide deployment of human and material resources to respond to adverse winter phenomena (snowfall, ice, hail or fattening rain) that occur in the almost 900 kilometers of road network of the State that run through the Community of Madrid. The plan was launched on November 1 and will be in force until April 1, 2025.

In the event of an emergency, we should also remember the support of the State Security Forces and Corps and the reinforcement of the deployment of the Military Emergency Unit (UME) when the ordinary services are overwhelmed by an extreme situation, cooperating with them at all times.

Sensitive points

The protocol of actions foresees as potentially sensitive points the levels higher than 1,000 meters, which are: the port of Somosierra on the A-1 (with 1,444 meters of altitude, from kilometer 84 to 96), and the port of Guadarrama-Alto del León on the National VI (with 1,511 meters of altitude, from kilometer 52 to 57). Other conflicting sections are those between kilometre 57 and the border with the province of Segovia on the A-1 motorway, and between kilometre 42 and the border with the same province on the A-6.

Special attention will also be paid to the road of the accesses to the city of Madrid, given the strategic importance of the capital in communications. The most vulnerable points are the ring roads, the radial entry/exit to Madrid and the accesses to the Adolfo Suárez Madrid Barajas airport, the railway stations and other transport infrastructures.

Coordination of actions

In order to achieve the objectives of the Plan, coordination and agility in the response of all administrations are essential. In this regard, last week a meeting was held at the headquarters of the Government Delegation to take stock of the winter campaign 2024-2025 in which no snowfall incidents were recorded in the State Road Network.

In addition, at the meeting chaired by the Government’s subdelegate to the Community of Madrid, Pilar Trinidad Núñez, with representatives of the different competent bodies, the Action Plan for snowfall situations and other adverse weather events 2025-2026 was also finalized. In this way, the protocol of action adapted to the current state plan was reviewed, which aims to strengthen the systems of coordination between the services, means and resources of the General Administration of the State, the Community of Madrid and the City of Madrid.

Three phases of action

The Plan establishes the operational procedures to be carried out according to the three possible phases that may occur: Alert, Pre-Emergency and Emergency. At each stage, the reasons for their declaration, who should intervene and what resources should be put in place are specified.

The declaration of the three phases is directly related to the levels of risk that can be emitted by the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET), through the National Plan for Prediction and Monitoring of Adverse Meteorology (METEOALERT), which provides in real time the best and most up-to-date meteorological information possible with an advance of up to 60 hours. These risk levels are:

· YELLOW, when there is no meteorological risk for the population in general, although for some specific activity.

· ORANGE, when the meteorological risk is important. Vulnerable people and property or in exposed areas can be severely damaged.

· RED, when the risk is considered extreme. Vulnerable people and property or in exposed areas can suffer very serious or catastrophic damage.

According to the weather forecasts, the Plan provides for the declaration of three phases:

· La WARNING PHASE which will begin with the issuance by the National Prediction Center of AEMET of a bulletin of notice of snowfall of red or orange levels relative to a certain territorial area, or a bulletin of yellow situation for snowfall in the Metropolitan Area-Henares of Madrid. It will mean the immediate implementation of the Operational Coordination Centre of the Government Delegation.

· La PRE-EMERGENCY PHASE It will occur when snow begins and the Nevada forecast is strong and decisions must be made on the advisability of deploying snow removal and salt spreading machines on the roadway for snow removal, as well as decisions to cut off truck and bus traffic. In addition, in this same phase, restrictions will be established on the normal conditions of movement, which may involve the obligatory use of chains to transit the road network, as well as the implementation of controls by the Civil Traffic Guard. In this case, operational prevention procedures will be established, such as the mobilisation of cranes to remove immobilised vehicles that hinder the actions or the mobilisation of snowploughing machines to clear the tracks.

· La EMERGENCY PHASE It will be reached from the moment that the snow on the road, the ice or any other circumstance (such as crossed vehicles) causes the cut of the road and it is necessary to pay attention to people who may have been blocked and it is impossible to follow the trip by their own means.