CHAOS continues in the east of Spain due to snow falling in places it is rarely seen – main highways in the province of Valencia are ground to a halt and rail traffic is disrupted in Alicante and Albacete.
Drivers were trapped all day and night on the A-3 Valencia-Madrid motorway and are believed to still be stuck, whilst the Armed Forces emergency response unit has been distributing blankets and food.
Pylons falling in the gale-force winds yesterday and last night, and overturned lorries, are hindering access to snow-ploughs to clear the A-3.
The worst part is near the Requena exit, close to the western limit of the Comunidad Valenciana, with gridlocks of up to six and 10 kilometres in two places.
Electricity board Iberdrola has sent out helicopters to oversee repairs on the fallen pylons in the Utiel-Requena area.
In the province of Alicante, directly south of that of Valencia, at least 13 roads have been shut, including the A-31 in Villena westbound.
Yesterday night, up to 1,200 cars were trapped on roads across the country, most of them in the province of Alicante, in particular inland areas such as Alcoy, Sax and Tibi.
A total of 730 were ground to a halt on the A-31 and another 50 on the CV-80 between Sax and Castalla.
Road closures were announced all day yesterday on the N-330 between Almansa (Albacete) and Requena (Valencia); on the A-31 in Almansa and between Elda and Petrer (Alicante), later extending to Novelda; and the A-7 motorway between Albaida (Valencia) and the Tibi and San Vicente del Raspeig area.
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