A British tourist’s sunny getaway to Barcelona turned into a cautionary tale after he was caught in the chaos of Spain and Portugal’s massive power outages.
The blackouts, which affected millions and disrupted travel, banking, and telecoms, have been a nightmare for scores of travellers. Authorities are still investigating the cause but have ruled out any foul play including a cyber attack.
Despite this, the situation has been no less exasperating for those eager to enjoy their holidays. In a candid TikTok video, Sam shared his ordeal: “If you rely on one thing for survival, you’re vulnerable,” he admitted. “I learned that the hard way today. It can’t just be me that always pays on their phone only now. If the power went out tomorrow for a few days, how ready would you actually be?”
Sam had arrived in Spain without any cash, planning to use his debit card for any necessary purchases in shops and bars. But as the outage rendered ATMs and electronic payments useless, he found himself stranded without access to essentials.
“We have no cash, can’t get food, can’t get water,” he lamented in the video. “I can’t get money from the ATM because it relies on power and it’s really made me think it’s the last time I am leaving the house without any cash.”
Sam closed: “How often do you just rely on your card now? I don’t even bring my wallet out sometimes anymore – I just pay on my phone. I am stuck today, it’s crazy.”
Reacting to the situation, one TikTok user asserted: “Now everyone should realise we can’t cope without cash.” Another advised: “This is why I always carry cash with me because at least you it’s something tangible and you can manage it.”
A third chimed in: “Cash is king, everyone should have cash on them. This is a taste of things to come, stay in control.” While a fourth person noted: “It can tell us how much we depend on electricity and technology, there is no plan B.”
Over in Portugal, Samantha Queen experienced similar aggravation after committing the same vacation error. Relaxing on the beach with her partner, Freddie, she shared: “We have come to Portugal for a few days and all was going well but then the electric went out. There’s no power.”
She expressed their dilemma: “We have no cash as we were just using our cards and now we can’t pay for things in shops as there’s no power. So the shops are shutting or they are cash only. We managed to get a packet of Lay’s [crisps] so that’s dinner for tonight. We also have a couple of bottles of water back at our hotel – but that’s it.”
Meanwhile, Spain has dismissed the possibility of “unusual meteorological or atmospheric phenomena” being behind the blackout, debunking previous claims made and reported by Portuguese authorities.
Weather experts in the country have confirmed that there were no strange events that could be responsible. “During the day of April 28, no unusual meteorological or atmospheric phenomena were detected in Spain, nor were there any sudden temperature changes in our network of weather stations,” a statement confirmed.
Meanwhile, Portuguese energy chiefs are pointing fingers at “anomalous oscillations” for the blackout chaos, with the phenomenon known as “induced atmospheric variation” potentially taking a week to resolve. Portugal’s REN (Rede Eletrica Nacional) is blaming a “fault in the Spanish electricity grid” for disruptions in their power supply.
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