After ten years of construction work, hand-wringing and bickering, Granada’s metro system finally came into being – but it is accident prone.

To be fair, it’s not the trains causing the problems but drivers who don’t seem to understand that where the trains run on the surface, they have priority. But it’s not all cases of collisions etc.

No matter that people keep buckling their cars on the trains, the system is very popular with residents and visitors alike; 25,000 passengers per day, on average, is testimony to this.

December saw a particularly accident-prone week with the first accident occurring on a Wednesday when one of the wagons come off the rails in Villarejo at seven in the morning. This caused a 30-min delay whilst alternative routes were set up.

The underground stations (Recogidas) sprang leaks due to the heavy rainfall that week – 50 litres per square metre – but despite the buckets all over the place, nobody slipped and broke a bone.

Then came Thursday and a power failure which lasted 20 minutes; again, in the early morning rush hour. Then Friday, the same again; another power failure during the morning rush hour.

Saturday saw a car blocking the the line just outside the Vicuña surface station, causing delays.

But, Hey! It works and the Granadinos wouldn’t hear of not having it – they love it!

(News: Metropolitan Area, Granada, Andalucia)