Samantha Mythen
WITH the clocks striking 8am on Tuesday morning, 99% of Spain’s electricity has been restored, electricity operators working through the night to get the country fully back up and running.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said it was an unprecedented event, and there had never been a drop to zero in the Iberian Peninsula’s electrical system before.
“What prompted this sudden disappearance of the supply is something that the experts still haven’t been able to determine,” he said.
The reconnecting over Monday night and into Tuesday morning was sporadic. Although one town’s power and internet were switched back on late yesterday evening, the next town over could still be in the dark. It’s ‘back to normal’ or ‘is this the apocalypse?’ from one town to the next.
This was the case for Laura from Casares del Sol. Just a ten-minute drive from an Olive Press reporter based in Estepona, Laura’s house was still completely dark at 11:30pm. She had not heard any news, other than what she could hear from her car radio, her mobile coverage still not working more than eight hours since the country went dark.
Knowing her friend lived nearby in Estepona, Laura packed an ’emergency bag,’ grabbing battery-powered fairy lights as her make-shift flashlight and a pack of bread, and then drove the ten minutes.
“I thought I was going to have to grab my friend and we’d figure out what to do together next. I couldn’t text her I was coming because my phone still wasn’t connecting to the internet,” Laura said.
But as soon as she passed the Mercadona in Estepona, her phone began to light up with messages and updates.
Almost in tears, panic pounding in her heart, running to her friend’s flat, she was surprised to see that friend casually cooking a late-night dinner in her flat, lit up in fluorescent light. Now she can laugh.
Sánchez admitted the cause of the power cut was still unknown and nothing was being ruled out.
The power cut originated at 12:33pm on Monday. Sánchez explained that for five seconds, 15 gigawatts of the energy that was being produced suddenly disappeared. That amount accounts for 60% of all energy being used.
France and Morocco have helped the national emergency by sending additional electricity to Spain this afternoon and into the evening. French grid operator RTE said it had already sent up to 2000 MW of electricity to Spain.
The main disruption was to Spain’s rail network, where more than 35,000 people on 100 trains had to be helped by emergency services. In comparison, only 344 flights out of 6000 scheduled on Monday had been cancelled.
Meanwhile, Lisbon’s major Carlos Moedas has advised residents to stay home on Tuesday, with there still being “some abnormality” in the situation. Portugal relies on Spain for its flow of power.
“Those who can stay home, do so. If you can prevent your children from going to school, do so,” he said.
Spain’s schools will remain open on Tuesday to help ease pressure on parents, but there will be no teaching schedules.
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