guys I was so scared yesterday... [Spain blackout]

A FOOTNOTE 

I wrote this on the day after, but didn't get around to posting it until now. For context: this was an unprecedented situation. Some people were very relaxed about it - sunbathing in the park, sitting outside with a beer at the bar - while others, like myself, tend to want to think ahead of possible scenarios. 

Given the current climate in Europe, and having been a working adult during the Covid lockdowns, I try to remain calm but don't take things lightly, just in case. Because I've seen firsthand how nothing really bad happens.. until it does.

While this situation was unfolding, most of us were cut off from official communications, and even official comms didn't specify if this was an attack on us or something other. It was a day of chaos that, fortunately, ended well for all (and we can laugh now).

APRIL 28th, 2025

Can I give you a rundown of my day?

I live in a town in the outskirts of the capital and work in the city centre. 

Yesterday I had a fever but decided I would still go in with the help of ibuprofen. I work the afternoon shift in an office's reception, so while I was getting ready to go out, I noticed the lights go out in my flat.

Hm, weird. The whole building lost power. Whatever, they'll fix it before food gets spoiled, surely.

I went to the bus stop and met Silvia, a middle-aged Romanian lady who usually takes the same bus into the city as I do, and greeted her as normal. 

She also didn't have power in her building, but suddenly, she couldn't make any calls on her cellphone, and her radio had stopped working too.

Okay... that is kinda weird now... I thought.

Another woman walked by and said "yeah, there has been a nationwide blackout". 

Fine, super weird, but also the Internet and radio not working is kinda freaky, no?

Anyways, we hopped on the bus and it was a very slow ride into the city - traffic was already super heavy in areas it normally wasn't, people had come out of their buildings and workplaces, everyone was on the street - kinda miffed, kinda laughing it off. It was a sunny day so why not make the most of it, too.

The bus got super full by the time we made it out of town - people had had to hop off trains and walk on the rails to the town's station. 

On the bus, people were all sharing their theories on what was happening, as nobody could get texts, calls or any Internet, and I began to feel increasingly stressed out. 

"Putin got mad at us." "Someone is trying to steal my crypto." "This is war..."

Looking out the window as we rode into the city, I saw the lanes for getting out were already beginning to clog. Not a good sign. 

I couldn't contact work, nor anyone, so I made the decision then to walk to my boyfriend's workplace, a school, which was luckily a short walk away from the bus station where I was headed. 

As we pulled up to the station, there were just people, people everywhere. My workplace was still a few miles away. I rushed toward the underground's entrance to check if anything was running, but it was sealed. Lights off, closed down. 

I ran to find Silvia again and asked her to come with me to my boyfriend's school, so we could maybe find her a bus to get to her work. 

At this point I was honestly quite scared and nervous, and I didn't want to leave her alone. It made me feel better having her walk by my side too, because as we got out into the street, it was chaos.

Traffic lights were off, there were waves of people moving in all directions, lining up for the urban buses which were filled to the top, still not running, or directly stuck in traffic jams. All businesses were closed or closing down for the day. Everyone kept trying their cellphones.

We arrived at the school (thank goodness I vaguely remembered how to get there on foot). Silvia's workplace was not far off, so she asked for directions and went off walking. I was greeted by my boyfriend, who was a bit miffed, but more nonchalant than I was. His phone signal still worked so I used it to try and contact work - no luck as the person who picked up ran out of battery shortly after.

"How do I get to X from here?" We looked up Google maps and walked down towards a bus stop. On the way, I was thirsty. There was this queue of people outside of a convenience store which was still open. Of course, card payments were down and cash withdrawals were not an option. Thankfully I had some cash on me. 

My boyfriend's phone was down by now too, but not before learning that the blackout was apparently happening to other European countries such as Finland and the Nethterlands -- this was later debunked (only Portugal and parts of France experienced it), but it did spike my stress up to plain anxiety.

We walked down the streets feeling like it was out of a movie or a Black Mirror episode (I have to add, we had watched the film "Leave The World Behind" just the day prior... iykyk). The only things you could hear were people moving around, and the constant police sirens and ambulance. 

"How fragile our society is - with all but just a click... it's all gone and we are lost", my boyfriend said. And the thing is, in the very moment this was all happening, we simply did not know why it was happening. We were having major COVID-19 flashbacks. 

I held his hand as we walked, realizing that taking a bus into work was not an option, and not knowing what to expect. "When is the military coming out?" he said half jokingly. Thankfully, an SMS came through his phone, one of my colleagues telling me to not come in and go home. I felt relieved because I didn't wanna leave his side in this weird chaos, just in case anything might happen.

Honestly, 5 years ago, nothing was happening until it suddenly did. So I don't trust anything now, especially in the current global political climate.

He and I went back to the school. Parents had been coming by to pick up their children but many were still in school so staff weren't able to leave. I told him I would wait around and meet him there at X hour. "I'm not leaving without you, so if you don't see me, just wait here" I said.

I walked around a bit, trying to find a somewhat less stressful spot to sit down, or something. Even my music player was out. Didn't even have a book on me. All I could do was observe people and wait. Frankly, I was too distracted by worry anyway.

At some point I decided to go back to the bus station, check the situation for me and my boyfriend to get home, how long the queues looked, etc. Only to find that it was closed... buses had been stopped from running due to roads being clogged by traffic. No way out of the city for us now, not without a car - and even then.. 

I went back to the school and sat down with a very rudimentary sandwich I had managed to buy from a bar that was still serving what they had. We were 5+ hours into the blackout now. Then something happened - I checked my phone and it showed me 37 notifications. I couldn't call but I had Internet data for a bit, so at least I was able to communicate with my family, who were back in my hometown several hours away by car. From the beginning, I had just wanted to get home with my boyfriend, pick up the cat and drive over to them. 

Anyways, my boyfriend was finally released from his duties. Some of his colleagues were carpooling, others staying at friends' who lived nearby, and some chose to stay in school and spend the night. We tried to get on the carpool but it was full, so I told him to grab a piece of paper and black pen. "We're hitch-hiking this, baby." 

He went back in and brought Leo, one of his colleagues who lived in the same town as us. She was stranded too, so the three of us set on walking to check out the bus station. They had opened up, but it was absolutely flooded with people trying to get on whatever bus was running, if any. None going to our town, no Uber rides, no way of paying for a taxicab... (even if we had the cash, God knows how expensive that would have been in these circumstances).

We were quite nervous, to be honest, and just wanted to get to our homes - about 20km (12.5 miles) away from where we were. Being stuck on the road for who-knows-how-long under the circumstances, not knowing what could happen, didn't seem like an attractive option to us then. So we put together whatever cash we had leftover and bought some water, energy drink, a coke and cookies, and set out on foot along the motorway. 

Traffic was barely moving either direction, and still no buses to our home. We must have walked for about an hour before we hit a point where we couldn't move any further on foot. With only 2 hours tops of sunlight left, it was wiser to undo the trail and check out the bus station again, or try to get on the side of the road and hitch-hike to anywhere near home. 

We'd been chatting and laughing along the way, so we were more relaxed now. The VAO bus-lane tunnel was open again after de-congesting from the general traffic, and we had seen several buses drive by towards the furthest removed areas (none of them going to our town in the whole time since we set out, though). 

We had almost made it back when it happened - the first bus with our home's name on it was driving past by the VAO lane. The RELIEF! We would have queued up for hours (which is what most people did), at this point we didn't care. We didn't have much choice. 

Upon arrival, the bus station was looking much better in terms of occupancy, and we were able to hop on the next bus home. Almost 9 hours into the blackout, we made it home with a couple of peppers and tomatoes to prepare a cold salad for dinner. 

That night, our town was one of the lucky few to regain power (although no Internet) quite early on, so we were able to shower and breathe in relief... Still, we kept the consuming to a minimum, with just the TV for news updates and a side lamp light on. We charged our phones and I took the chance to withdraw more cash.

I was ready to fill up the bathtub with water just in case but my boyfriend stopped me there lol.

* Key takeaways: 

- Have a flashlight and radio with batteries (a wristwatch comes in handy too)

- Always have cash available, at least 20€ or upwards, and carry some with you

- People are all we have in times of need

- Don't panic, but don't underestimate an uncertain situation, and have an action plan in case of emergency