The night promised to be magical. After having covered a good part of the city during the day, getting on one of the Christmas buses that circulate through the capital was the perfect excuse to see the street lighting from the comfort of a seat. Furthermore, on a weekend marked by crowds, getting on the Naviluz seemed the smartest option to avoid unnecessary stress. The appointment was scheduled for Saturday, November 30 at 9:40 p.m., the time slot in which tickets are cheapest (eight euros, two less than at rush hour). However, that night cheap ended up being expensive.
With tickets reserved several weeks in advance, people began to arrive at the meeting point, the stop on Felipe IV Street, in front of the Ritz Hotel. Everyone had high expectations. “I’m excited and we haven’t gone up yet,” commented a woman waiting for her turn. But the illusion quickly collapsed when the people in charge of organizing passengers reported that the buses were running more than an hour late.
It was 9:40 p.m. and the people who had bought tickets for 8:15 p.m. were getting on the Naviluz. “This is a shame,” was heard among the crowd. Children, the elderly and people with reduced mobility had been waiting for an hour and a half in the street, cold and without any explanation from the staff. Many of them had come to spend the weekend in Madrid and specifically to see the lights. As the minutes passed, the tension was increasingly palpable in the atmosphere.
Many people decided to abandon and go home before their bus arrived at the stop: “They will give me the necessary explanations when I send my claim.” It was after 10:00 p.m. and there were still nine trips to go. According to some of the workers, the delays had been caused by the closure of some streets due to the firefighters’ demonstration that had taken place that same afternoon. However, no one had notified passengers of these delays that were occurring and they did not provide any solution other than waiting.
The situation became even more complicated when around 10:30 p.m. a bus arrived and, in an attempt to clear the growing crowd of passengers on the street, allowed people to board without respecting schedules or reservations. This gesture, far from solving the problem, unleashed real chaos.
Passengers, many of them already desperate from the long wait, rushed to occupy the available seats, regardless of whether they belonged to them or not. This caused discussions among users about not being able to use their reserved places. The staff in charge, who were visibly overwhelmed, did not know how to manage the situation and instead of calming things down, they resigned themselves to lack of control.
Logically, complaints from those who could not get on the bus that had previously been assigned to them did not take long to arrive. “We have been waiting for almost two hours and now the people on duty arrive and take away our seats,” criticized one of those affected. The buses arrived, but the sidewalk was not completely cleared.
At 10:45 p.m. the Naviluz finally arrived, which corresponded to the passengers of the 9:40 p.m. shift. More than an hour late. The Christmas buses have capacity for 61 people (some for 53) and although the tickets were sold out, there were free places. Many had already given up before their turn arrived and the atmosphere was tense and tense rather than celebratory.
A disappointing journey
The Christmas bus started at 10:50 p.m. “I don’t believe we made it,” said one of the passengers. However, the experience did not improve once the trip began. What should have been a 50-minute tour through the main illuminated streets of Madrid was reduced to just 25. The ride, which stops at the most prominent enclaves of Madrid’s Christmas decorations, was reduced by half, leaving passengers still more dissatisfied than they already were.
It started on Felipe IV Street and the first Christmas sight that made its appearance on the route was the Puerta de Alcalá with its traditional nativity scene of lights. The displays of astonishment on the part of adults and children were beginning to be notable. “Look at the lights, mom,” a child shouted to his mother. He continued with Velázquez and Serrano with their starry skies and numerous designs of hanging chains.
The few children who were on board were completely captivated by the lighting that flew over their heads. Although the speed at which the bus was traveling did not allow us to pay enough attention to the details. This aspect became especially important in the points where the greatest number of trees were concentrated on the sides of the road. The branches managed to reach the heads of the passengers several times and, what at first seemed like fun, could have ended in misfortune.
Temerities aside, the bus was already reaching the Plaza de Colón, where its giant angel was waiting, when not even ten minutes had passed. At that time there was still Cibeles, Gran Vía, Neptuno and a few other lighting points to visit. The passengers were so engrossed in the ride that they were not even aware of how much time they had left on board.
Upon reaching the corner of Gran Vía and Alcalá, one of the great attractions of the tour awaited them: the enormous nativity scene that in previous years had been part of the illumination of Columbus. The birth marked the beginning of the problems along the way, in case they had not already been enough. Gran Vía was completely packed. This caused the bus to take a few minutes longer than stipulated to travel down the street. Therefore, upon reaching Alcalá Street again, the driver decided to step on the accelerator. From that moment on the journey became a race. Not to mention the cold, a handicap that many users do not take into account and can cost more than one person a cold since the bus does not have heating.
Passengers began to complain: “We have not paid eight euros per ticket to see the streets at the speed of light and frozen. “This is a scam,” a man muttered. Eight euros per traveler – ten at rush hour – that go directly to Alsa, the company that for a few years has managed the service that was previously municipal and that also manages the City Tour tourist buses, which circulated without incident that same afternoon.
The bus made its final turn in Cibeles to head to its starting point. There were now only a few points of lighting left to see: the menina of Paseo del Prado and the chains between Cibeles and Neptuno. Before reaching the final stop, some travelers began to go down to the lower deck, tired of being cold.
At the end of the journey and looking at their watches, everyone was surprised. It was 11:15 p.m. The bus had not run for even 25 minutes, half of what the Christmas service promises on its website. “We should all file a collective complaint,” said a woman as she left the Naviluz. The workers were not able to give any type of explanation. Alsa, for its part, has not offered any bonus to passengers who have claimed the amount of their tickets and has only limited itself to apologizing, something that after what happened on board the Naviluz seems insufficient.
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