In the Madrid area, rescuers reached 1,500 people trapped in cars as police broke out a major snowball fight after authorities called on citizens to stay home due to the risk of accidents or the spread of coronavirus.
Forecasters have warned of dangerous conditions in the coming days, with the expected temperature next week to minus 14 Fahrenheit (10 Celsius) and the prospect of snow turning to ice and damaged trees falling.
In Madrid, police cordoned off buildings with heavy loads of snow on the roof in case of accidents, but residents took to the streets in large crowds to see the rare sight of their city covered in white.
About 100 workers and shoppers slept two nights in a shopping center in Majadahonda, a town north of Madrid, after being trapped by the blizzard on Friday.
“There are people sleeping on cardboard on the ground,” Ivan Alcala, a restaurant worker, told TVE television.
Madrid’s international airport has suspended flights until Sunday night.
About 20,000km of roads across central Spain were affected by the storm and the government would send convoys transporting the vaccine and food supplies to those in need, Transport Minister Jose Luis Abalos said on Saturday.
One man and a woman in a car drowned after a river burst near Malaga in the south, while two homeless people in Madrid and Calatayud in the east froze to death.
The State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) said up to 20-30 cm (7-8 inches) of snow fell in Madrid on Saturday, the most since 1971.