Madrid, Spain – Na power cut wey happen for Spain and Portugal don cause wahala wey plenty people no fit manage. Dis blackout, wey start earlier today, don scatter travel plans, affect shops, and put many areas for total disarray.
Classical violinist Isaac Bifet, wey dey rehearse for symphony orchestra for Madrid, talk say the place dark like night, and many of his fellow orchestra members no fit show up because dem dey stranded. He mention say when him reach café to find help, the owner dey generous. “I had no cash,” Isaac talk, “so I went to a café and the owner said: ‘Don’t worry you can pay me another time.’” Dis na just one of the stories wey reflect how people dey cope.
Goverment officials dey work to restore order as Spain’s Interior Ministry don deploy 30,000 police officers across the country. Dis na to make sure say people no go loot and to protect businesses wey the power cut don affect. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez calm citizens, talk say dem fit relax as authorities dey work hard to restore power by tomorrow.
For many towns, security officers don patrol as businesses wey no fit operate because electricity dey on lockdown. The Catalonia police, Mossos d’Esquadra, don also deploy over 7,000 officers to manage any emergency situation. “A long night lies ahead; we will continue working to restore normality as soon as possible,” Sánchez conclude.
An official from EURELECTRIC, Kristian Ruby, talk say the power outage na something wey dem no expect, saying, “this is a 50 year, if not 100 year incident…something very very rare.” He explain say dem detect a technical issue between the energy connection wey link France and Spain, wey contribute to this massive blackout.
People for metro stations dey share stories of how dem panicked when the lights go out. Sarah Jovovich, wey dey take metro, talk say “I was just getting off the train when the lights went out,” describing the scene as chaotic. “People were confused and hysterical, it was quite chaotic really.” According to Sarah, when dem ask people to evacuate, streets dey full with traffic and people dey vex because shops dey close.
Spain’s Transport Minister Oscar Puente talk say 11 trains don dey stranded across the country. He confirm say power don return for a control center, but dem still dey face issues with some locomotives. As of local time 22:00, dem don manage restore about 43.28% of the country’s electrical demand.
Some passengers wey dey trapped on the trains dey share their experience too. Gabriela Chavez, wey dey between Seville and Madrid, talk say the AC and toilets stop working once power cut happen. She share say people from nearby town dey bring food and supplies for dem, say, “It’s actually very sweet to see everyone come together in a time of need.” Jonathan Emery add to the gist saying, “For about an hour, [the train was] just not moving.”
While power dey gradually restore, several areas still dey struggle with accessibility. Reports show say soldiers dey increase security deployments, and dem don ask citizens to limit phoning due to network strain. Spain’s Prime Minister Sánchez don dey set to give another update about the state of emergency wey don declare for affected regions.
Power operators don report say dem dey regain some energy supply; however, many consumers still dey experience challenges. In Portugal, 750,000 customers don get power restored. REN confirm say dem don start to function all substations for Greater Porto and work towards bringing back normal operations.
As the clock dey tick, Spanish authorities dey try manage the situation as best as dem fit, calling for calm among citizens and assuring say dem dey work tirelessly to fix the mess.
