Costa del Sol is back online after hours of being plunged into darkness, but for how long?
Without any explanation, all of Spain lost electricity on Monday, April 28. Portugal, parts of France, Italy, and Germany were also left in darkness and without the chance to continue daily life as we have all been accustomed to. Impossible to take out cash or to pay by card in many places, supermarkets filled with emergency shoppers while the emergency lights held out. Petrol stations closed, unable to pump fuel. According to the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, 35,000 people were trapped on trains around the country, including many in tunnels on Metro trains, and Internet services came and went for those who still had power in their devices.
Recovery of electricity has been little by little, town by town. Marbella was back online by 7pm, Elviria by 6.15, and Ronda at 6.40. In the Carvajal area of Fuengirola, electricity was restored after 7 hours of blackout. In many places, the electricity began to come back on, but the Internet remained sketchy. Cash machines went into emergency mode, allowing users to extract limited amounts of cash, but little else. Malaga airport remained operational but with extensive disruptions, advising passengers to check with their airlines to see if their flights were still operating.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez addressed the nation in the evening, calling the blackout an ‘absolutely exceptional incident’ and confirmed that the National Security Council has been convened. He reassured the public that all resources are being mobilised to ensure full restoration and promised a full investigation into the vulnerability of Spain’s connection to the European grid.
But what really happened, and will we be ready for if it happens again? Major media sources spoke of a ‘rare atmospheric phenomenon’, but few seemed convinced, and many were chatting amongst themselves of a massive cyber attack.
Early on Tuesday, April 29, queues began to appear at cashpoints as people realised that cash was king in a world without electricity, hurriedly taking out a few notes so that they wouldn’t be caught out again.
Electricity suppliers have been attempting a ‘black start’ where little by little they refill the grid with electricity and essentially bump start generators. There was no recorded ‘spike’ on charts that followed the flow of electricity that would have indicated a massive short circuit, the power supply simply plunged as if someone had flicked a switch.
Continuous supply may take up to three days to be restored fully, and the risk of more outages remains high.