Are coach hire companies in Bilbao and San Sebastian really prepared for snow?

My friend Rolf lives in the very center of the touristic cheese traders city of Volendam and he works in Amsterdam.  Bus loads full of Spanish, Japanese and Chinese tourists arrive from Amsterdam in a hired coach to visit the old center on cheese trading days.  Rolf commutes on a daily basis between those places by bus. He enjoys a very fast coach-bus service that is passing all the traffic because of the special bus road where no private cars are allowed. When he arrives in Amsterdam Central station he continues his trip by using his extra bicycle which he bought for this purpose for the last part of the trip.

Bus driver was surprised by slippery snow

Last Monday the 1^st real snow of the season started falling and although everybody received plenty of warnings lot of groups of travelers experienced  delays in reaching their destination. Some bus services were annulated and lots were delayed.

Rolf sent me the picture below of his bus that sliped into verge of a road because of snow that made the road slippery.  Although it was not a big accident passengers got scared of the brusque movement and sudden stop and they all had to be evacuated and to wait in the cold for an replacement coach to arrive. The bus driver got surprised by the effect of the snow and all passengers escaped from what could have been a mayor accident.

Could this happen in Basque Country in Spain?

Luckily there was no ravine on the side of the road and luckily the bus didn’t slip into the other lane of the road.  This event however made me wonder if this could happen in Spain. Of course you wouldn’t expect this to happen in coastal areas around Barcelona or Malaga but maybe one of our associated coach hire companies in Bilbao or San Sebastian might be surprised by a sudden change in the weather while driving with a group of tourist on a day tour.  A sudden change of weather in the mountains is very common and finding yourself suddenly on a road covered with snow without being prepared for it can be dangerous.

Let Rolf’s picture of the coach by the side of the road be an extra warning for all of us bus rental companies to be aware of weather predictions and carry non-skid chain’s in the winters month even if they feel like summertime  for most of the groups of tourist that are enjoying your transport services.

Save and happy driving to all of you!