A dramatic footage shows the terrifying ordeal pilots and air passengers endured while landing at Loiu Airport in Bilbao as high winds batter northern Spain this week.
Footage of planes landing at Loiu Airport in Bilbao shows aircraft being blown sideways and shaking almost uncontrollably as pilots battle to bring them down safely on to runways.
While one intrepid pilot manages to successfully guide his plane on to the landing strip, another is forced to pull back into the air as the huge crosswind means he just cannot hit the runway.
Footage of planes landing at Loiu Airport in Bilbao shows aircraft being blown sideways and shaking almost uncontrollably as pilots battle to bring them down safely on to runways
The State Meteorological Agency reported that winds have reached 40 mph at the airport, while high winds of 80 mph were reported in the rest of the Basque region.
Air travel had been affected, with four planes being re-routed to different airport, according to AENA, the airport authority.
Pilot heading towards Bilbao, however, have had to struggle on the airport remained open during the hazardous conditions and no flights were cancelled.
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French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been booed by hundreds of angry protesters, forcing him to take shelter in a bar as he campaigned in the Basque country ahead of April’s presidential election.
Some in the crowd then threw eggs at the bar guarded by riot police in the south-western town of Bayonne.
Nicolas Sarkozy described the protesters – Basque nationalists and supporters of his rival Socialist candidate Francois Hollande – as “hooligans”.
The president left the bar after about an hour.
The Basque region straddles south-western France and northern Spain.
Nicolas Sarkozy has been booed by hundreds of angry protesters in Bayonne, as he campaigned in the Basque country ahead of April's presidential election
Nicolas Sarkozy was met in Bayonne by a hostile crowd, who jeered him and shouted insults.
Some chanted “Nicolas kampora”, which in the Basque language meant “Nicolas get out”.
Nicolas Sarkozy was also showered with campaign leaflets calling for greater Basque autonomy.
Riot police had to be deployed around the Bar du Palais, where the president took refuge.
Visibly angry, Nicolas Sarkozy later denounced “the violence of a minority and their unacceptable behavior”.
“Here, we’re in France, on the territory of the French republic, and the president of the republic will go everywhere. And if that doesn’t please a minority of troublemakers, too bad for them,” Nicolas Sarkozy said.
The president also said he was “saddened to see Hollande’s Socialist militants associating with [Basque] separatists in violent protests to terrorise ordinary people who want just one thing: to meet and talk with me”.
A senior member of Francois Hollande’s campaign team later said that while the party leader condemned any violence, no Socialist was involved in the Bayonne incident, the AFP news agency reports.
Opinion polls show that Nicolas Sarkozy is lagging behind Francois Hollande, although the current president is narrowing the gap.
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