Andre Roden Paul
BBC News
EPA
People use candles in towns in northwest Spain
It’s powered and nothing works. How are you going to spend your day?
It was the problem faced by millions of people on Monday in Spain and Portugal amid the worst power outage in their history.
We ask people who spent the day without electricity about what helped them work on their lives and what stopped necessities they lacked.
cash
EPA
People form queues at cash points in Madrid
Although paying by phone and card has become the norm, in cities in Spain and Portuguese, queues formed with cash (at least what was still working) switched when stores left their card payments.
“When the suspension first started, we managed to pay with a coffee card. [but later] We didn’t have cash so we couldn’t buy anything,” Ed Lowe, 26, of Madrid, told the BBC.
“All restaurants that were open were cash alone.”
Grace O’Leary, 32, who also lives in the Spanish capital, said she and her mother were counting coins to see if she had enough money to buy wine from the corner shop.
“Obviously, cash is actually king.”
Jaime Giorgio, 28, was lucky enough to have him with some cash, so he was able to buy food and other essentials.
“It was pretty confusing in Madrid, there was no tube and we couldn’t take cash.
“I had cash, but my flatmate didn’t, so I had to lend him some money to buy things.”
wireless
Buschschluter Family
This Windup radio allowed Buschschluters to be tuned to radio stations
The blackout also led to information blackouts as I spent the day without the internet, WhatsApp, phones and TV.
“The complete loss of communication was the most confusing and concerning… We were just speculating about bringing together causes and connections from our neighbors,” said Daniel Clegg of Barcelona.
The 42-year-old said she was looking at the sky to see if the plane was still flying because she had no information.
For Siegfried and Christine Buschschluter, the old Windup Transistor Radio helped them adjust to their local radio stations to find out what’s going on after their phones stopped and power stopped in a country home outside the Spanish capital.
Christine, 82, explained:
“It was a very strange situation. I was born in Berlin during the war. It reminded me of a time when my parents were trying to get the news – it got me back.”
The couple believes the outage will lead to a boom in demand for battery-operated radios.
It is also on Daniel’s shopping list. “A must-have kit to get back to basic communication and let you know that I’m not fully remembering.”
Canned food
Jaime Giorgio
Jaime Giorgio crossed Madrid and took his family with essentials
Microwaves, air fryers, some hobs and ovens all require electricity.
However, on Monday there was a demand for cooking and preparing meals that didn’t require electricity.
In supermarkets, shoppers formed a must-have bought with long lines and panic – the echo scene of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We bought a lot of foods that don’t go out like cans, like cans,” says actor Jaime.
“The suspension lasted only one day and now there is a lot of food, but most of it is easily preserved so it doesn’t get any worse.”
“It was more difficult than we thought, trying to find food you didn’t need to heat,” said Leslie’s elder in Fortuna, a town in southeastern Spain.
“So we ended up having ham and cheese for dinner.”
She helped by adding a small gas stove to warm the food with bread.
Candles and torches
EPA
People relied on candles to light their homes
Crossing the Iberian Peninsula, people relied on candles to brighten up the dark space.
Richard, who lives in the city of Alcala de Genares in Spain, said that one streetlight was not on when the night fell.
“People were finding their way through torchlights, especially since I live next to a double driveway, looking completely black at the view from my window, it was very surreal,” he said.
“In my spare time I made candles and, fortunately, I had some spares so I could see them in the dark.”
Sarah Baxter, from Barcelona, said she even said she used candle rocks to cook food.
“We were able to heat the beans and rice and quickly bring the potatoes to a boil,” she said.
“It was much safer than the propane camp stove in the apartment.”
Although candles and naked flames can pose a risk of fire.
PowerBank
Bloomberg via Getty Images
People lined up outside the store selling Madrid power banks
There was no power and people were relying on having batteries on their devices.
In Madrid, people lined up outside the tech shops to get their power banks.
Luckily for Sarah, she had a solar charger and kept calling for phones through a 10-hour blackout, helping her older neighbors do the same.
Leslie says her Kindle has run out of battery. “I don’t have a TV or a Scrabble puzzle on my phone, so having some books helped me,” she said.
Ed Lowe
Ed, sitting on the balcony during a power outage, enjoyed leaving his device
But for others, it was comforting to not have access to the internet or its devices.
“Everyone is so dependent on technology, it’s a really great reminder that you can become more independent,” Ed said.
“You don’t have to connect with everyone all the time,” said his flatmate Hannah Steiner, 23. “I was having a great time with my flatmate.”
“I feel that this that happened is important to make us more aware of our habits and more aware of our own habits,” said Sarah Francisco, 24, from Leiria, Central Portugal.
