Joy in the ski resorts as the first major snowfalls of the season arrive

The first big snowfalls of the season started falling in the early hours of Monday morning and have brought smiles to the faces of skiers, snowboarders and ski resort staff alike.

The state meteorological agency, AEMET, forecasts continuing heavy snowfall for most of Spain’s mountainous regions right through until Thursday.

It has not gone unnoticed across the social media networks that this latest weather front has been named Gerard, but AEMET was quick to clarify it has absolutely nothing to do with the heavily trending hit by Shakira that lambasts her former partner, Gerard Piqué.

In a message on Twitter, AEMET said "The assignment of this name is a complete coincidence. It was the French meteorological service (Météo-France) which published the name Gérard at the beginning of the season, in September, which in the current context is ironic." 

They also pointed out that weather fronts are only named "when they are capable of generating great impact," so while Shakira and Bizarrap’s hit continues to have a huge social media impact across Spain and Latin America, storm Gerard is busy whipping up the wind and the sea, and leaving heavy rain and snow in its wake.

The vast majority of slopes are now open in almost all of Spain’s ski resorts, especially those in the Pyrenees, which saw the bulk of this morning’s snowfall. In Formigal, 18 of the 22 ski lifts are now in operation, with 58km of runs available boasting 60cm of powder snow. Ever popular Baqueira Baret has now opened 30 of its 36 lifts, and has 92km of runs covered with 40cm of powder snow; and there is over a metre of powder snow in Boí Taüll, where 32 of the 43 runs are open.