{"id":293381,"date":"2025-04-29T16:07:06","date_gmt":"2025-04-29T16:07:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/29\/power-outage-in-spain-and-portugal-creates-a-day-of-confusion\/"},"modified":"2025-04-29T16:07:06","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T16:07:06","slug":"power-outage-in-spain-and-portugal-creates-a-day-of-confusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/29\/power-outage-in-spain-and-portugal-creates-a-day-of-confusion\/","title":{"rendered":"Power Outage in Spain and Portugal Creates a Day of Confusion"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/04\/29\/multimedia\/29xp-spain-scene-01-tgjl\/29xp-spain-scene-01-tgjl-facebookJumbo.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Power Outage in Spain and Portugal Creates a Day of Confusion\" title=\"Power Outage in Spain and Portugal Creates a Day of Confusion\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Rocio Vilaplana, a dentist in southeastern Spain, was closing a suture in a patient\u2019s mouth during oral surgery early Monday afternoon when the lights went out.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cEverything started beeping,\u201d Ms. Vilaplana said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Her backup generator kicked in, the emergency lights in her surgery room flickered on and the 36-year-old dentist tried to remain calm. \u201cLet\u2019s just close it properly,\u201d she thought to herself.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Dr. Vilaplana finished the delicate procedure, but it would be the beginning of a day of frayed nerves and widespread confusion across Spain and Portugal, as <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/04\/28\/world\/europe\/spain-portugal-power-outage-what-we-know.html\" title=\"\">a daylong power outage<\/a> brought life to a standstill for tens of millions. People spent the night in train stations huddled under blankets, stuck in their apartments without water or working elevators, staring at their suddenly useless cellphones and wondering what had happened.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On Tuesday, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/04\/29\/world\/europe\/power-outage-spain-portugal.html\" title=\"\">with electricity almost entirely restored in the two countries<\/a> \u2014 though the cause of the outage remained under investigation \u2014 many people reflected on the anxiety of being left not only without power, but also without cellphone service, internet access or the ability to pay for anything except with cash.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In Murcia, a city in southeastern Spain, the word on many residents\u2019 lips on Tuesday morning was \u201clocura\u201d \u2014 insanity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe worst was the lack of communication,\u201d said Mar\u00eda Jos\u00e9 Egea, 71, who spent a nervous evening in her seventh-floor apartment, the elevator out of service. Neighbors came to check in on her, she said, although good information was scarce and rumors about the cause of the blackout flew.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cPeople were coming and telling me nonsense,\u201d she said. \u201cEveryone had a theory. \u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In the Spanish capital, Madrid, residents in the Arganzuela neighborhood filtered into the streets on Monday, confused by what was happening. Some stared at their unconnected phones.<span class=\"css-8l6xbc evw5hdy0\">  <\/span>Others gathered outside health centers, shops and bars to try to gather information.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A small crowd collected at an auto repair shop on Mart\u00edn de Vargas Street, where the owner, Fernando Palacio, opened the doors of a car he was working on and played a news broadcast on the radio \u2014 the only reliable source of information throughout the day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It reminded Mr. Palacio of a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1981\/05\/10\/weekinreview\/coup-failed-but-spain-s-politics-still-reels-from-the-aftershock.html\" title=\"\">1981 coup attempt<\/a> in Spain, he said Tuesday morning, with \u201ceveryone glued to the radio.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Naturally, people flocked to the stores that were still open to buy batteries, cooking charcoal, toilet paper and other essentials. By nightfall, some store shelves in cities like Murcia were empty.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe were actually quite scared,\u201d said Mar\u00eda Cantero, 41, a restaurant server in Archena, about 15 miles outside Murcia. She made a run to the store to buy formula for her 5-month-old daughter and candles. As night fell and the power was still out, she felt uneasy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In Peniche, Portugal, about 60 miles north of Lisbon, Jos\u00e9 Boto, a 69-year-old pensioner, had a tough day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He was standing in line at a supermarket, holding a chicken \u2014 his lunch \u2014 when he was told there had been a power outage and that payment could only be made in cash. \u201cI had to leave the chicken behind,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">By Tuesday morning, life was regaining its rhythms. Ms. Cantero drove her daughter, Luc\u00eda, to a doctor\u2019s appointment in Murcia. The traffic lights were working again, and the police officers who had deployed to intersections to direct traffic a day earlier were gone.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Spanish capital was not quite back to its bustling self. Many residents appeared to be staying home. Schools were open, although few were holding regular classes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mar\u00eda del Carmen S\u00e1nchez, a caretaker at Cervantes Secondary School in the Lavapi\u00e9s neighborhood of Madrid, said that \u201cbarely 5 percent of the students\u201d showed up on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Still, she said, despite \u201cthe chaos of the situation, I think everything went quite well. People were very patient, although there were some nerves and concern at first.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For others, the disruptions of the previous day lingered.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Anthony Saas, 24, a student from Zgharta, Lebanon, was stranded in the southern Spanish city of C\u00f3rdoba on Monday after his train home to Ja\u00e9n, where he is studying, was canceled. He spent a sleepless night at the train station, covered by a Red Cross blanket, and he was still there on Tuesday morning, holding a plastic bag with his belongings and waiting for his rescheduled train home to be announced.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt was a tough night,\u201d Mr. Saas said. It was his first visit to C\u00f3rdoba, he added, \u201cand I don\u2019t even know if I will ever come back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As the authorities continued to search for the cause of the blackout, many across the region prepared for several days of digging out.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">At her dental clinic in Murcia, Dr. Vilaplana donned her scrubs and mask again on Tuesday morning. She was planning to work up to 13 hours to try to fit in all of her canceled patients and attend to new emergencies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For the next few days, she said, \u201cit\u2019s going to be completely crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Samuel Granados<!-- --> contributed reporting from C\u00f3rdoba, Spain. <!-- -->Tiago Carrasco<!-- --> contributed reporting from Peniche, Portugal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/04\/29\/world\/europe\/spain-power-outage-blackout.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rocio Vilaplana, a dentist in southeastern Spain, was closing a suture in a patient\u2019s mouth during oral surgery early Monday afternoon when the lights went out. \u201cEverything started beeping,\u201d Ms. Vilaplana said. Her backup generator kicked in, the emergency lights in her surgery room flickered on and the 36-year-old dentist tried to remain calm. \u201cLet\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":293382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/04\/29\/multimedia\/29xp-spain-scene-01-tgjl\/29xp-spain-scene-01-tgjl-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[228161,18435,228162,5448,758,175394,227620,180703,174175,1732,9303,2974,191488,108464,11843,219135],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293381"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=293381"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293381\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":293383,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293381\/revisions\/293383"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/293382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=293381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=293381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=293381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}