The NATO summit enters its final stretch and Madrid prepares for de-escalation

In the same way that happened with the snowfall of Filomena, that everyone is able to remember exactly what day the first few snowfalls fell, but no one agrees to say when its effects ended -the accumulated snow took several more days in disappearing in some streets of Madrid than in others -, the NATO summit is moving towards its end without knowing in detail when Madrid will return to normality.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
30 June 2022 Thursday 03:56
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The NATO summit enters its final stretch and Madrid prepares for de-escalation

In the same way that happened with the snowfall of Filomena, that everyone is able to remember exactly what day the first few snowfalls fell, but no one agrees to say when its effects ended -the accumulated snow took several more days in disappearing in some streets of Madrid than in others -, the NATO summit is moving towards its end without knowing in detail when Madrid will return to normality.

The least imprecise has been the mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, who has conveyed that the people of Madrid "will recover the city from Friday and we will be able to enjoy it as much" as the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, and his wife did yesterday , Brigitte.

“It had come to me that, indeed, they both took a walk through the city of Madrid after dinner at the Royal Palace, and I think they are enjoying it like any person who visits the city of Madrid, a wonderful city, a city that It is experiencing some difficult days, that is also true, but that does not take away, of course, one iota of how beautiful it is and what can be enjoyed” in it, said the mayor in an interview on Telecinco.

What he has not mentioned, however, is that the French president and his partner fully enjoyed Madrid de los Austrias after the Security Forces cleared it of tourists, to the enjoyment of the leaders.

Because this Thursday a good part of the city has dawned armored again, although the security restrictions in areas such as the Prado Museum and the Royal Palace have been eased by having already hosted the events planned in the official agenda.

The critical points have been concentrated in the vicinity of the hotels chosen by the delegations and in the accesses to the Ifema fairgrounds, leaving traffic jams of various kinds on the M-607 and the North Node of the M-30 as traffic has been blocked to clear the Paseo de la Castellana for the passage of the delegations.

The interchanges, such as that of Méndez Álvaro, continued with a significant deployment of police and health personnel to act when necessary and the different bridges that connect the neighborhoods separated by the M-30 in the eastern area had several surveillance posts in case the various helicopters that constantly fly over the sky of Madrid will miss some detail.

Yesterday the traffic within the ring of the M-30 decreased by 30% compared to the same day of the previous week -29% outside the central almond and 18.5% on the ring road itself- and, in addition, , was the day in June with the highest occupancy rate for the EMT buses, which were free.

In fact, the consistory recommends that Madrid residents who have to travel do so using public transport and avoid the use of private vehicles, and urges them to telework as much as possible.

The interchanges, such as that of Méndez Álvaro, continued with a significant deployment of police and health personnel to act when necessary and the different bridges that connect the neighborhoods separated by the M-30 in the eastern area had several surveillance posts in case the various helicopters that constantly fly over the sky of Madrid will miss some detail.

In the afternoon, the most complicated part will be access to Barajas airport since the bulk of the leaders, and their respective delegations, will undertake the trip back to their respective countries of origin from the Ifema convention center.

Although some of its work teams will remain a few more hours in Madrid to take advantage of the time with bilateral meetings with other countries.

Madrid will gradually return to normality, although it will not last long, because the NATO summit has caused the delay to next week of the celebration of Pride in the capital, so the traffic cuts will once again make an appearance.