Snow closes Madrid airport

An unusually heavy snowfall coated downtown Madrid in white on Friday, shutting down the city's airport but providing rare opportunities for snowball fights while intrepid golfers drove their balls into the storm.

Flights in and out of Barajas international airport were stopped for nearly six hours during the daytime because of the snow, airport officials said.

"It snows nearly every year in Madrid but rarely does it stick like this in the city center," said Angel Rivera, spokesman for Spain's National Meteorological Agency.

The agency estimated the snowfall could reach 2 1/2 inches. Rivera said the last time central Madrid had a similar amount of snow was Feb. 23, 2001.

"It's the first time I've seen snow in my life," said Maria Rosa Riveiro, 33, from Cape Verde, who has been living in Spain for more than two years. "It's a strange feeling, it's exciting."

Friday's snow brought traffic to a halt on several main roads leading into and out of the capital and authorities urged people to travel by public transport.

But the inclement weather provided children with the rare opportunity to throw snowballs. Golf enthusiasts continued teeing-off at a city-center practice range.

Heavy snow also snarled traffic in the northeast regions of Cataluna and Aragon, in Valencia to the east and southern Murcia.

Rivera said the weather was a continuation of a spell of freezing temperatures and snow that swept central Europe this week. It shut airports in Milan and was blamed for at least 12 deaths across the continent. He said it was expected to move out of Spain and across northwest Africa by Saturday night.