Madrid ? An unusually heavy snowfall coated downtown Madrid in white on Friday, shutting down the city’s airport but providing rare opportunities for snowball fights.

Flights in and out of Barajas international airport were stopped for nearly six hours during the daytime because of the snow, airport officials said.

“It snows nearly every year in Madrid but rarely does it stick like this in the city center,” said Angel Rivera, spokesman for Spain’s National Meteorological Agency.

The agency estimated the snow could reach 2 1/2 inches. Rivera said the last time central Madrid had a similar amount of snow was Feb. 23, 2001.