Five things you need to save a Power Cut

The power is out and nothing works. How should I get through the day?

That was the question with which millions of people were confronted on Monday in Spain and Portugal during the worst black -out of electricity in their history.

We ask people who have spent the day without electricity about what helped them continue with life and what failure essentials they missed.

Paying with telephone and card has become the norm, but in cities in Spain and Portugal, queues have been formed in cash machinery – at least those who were still working – while stores have been eliminated from map payments.

“We managed to pay for our coffee with a card when the malfunction started for the first time, (but later) we had no money, so we couldn’t buy anything,” Ed Rowe, 26, told the BBC in Madrid.

“All restaurants that were open were only cash.”

Grace O’Leary, 32, who also lives in the capital of Spain, said she and her mother counted coins to see if she had enough money to buy wine in a corner shop.

“Apparently cash is actually king.”

Jaime Gorgojo, 28, was lucky to have some money on him, so that he could buy food and other supplies.

“In Madrid it was pretty chaotic, there was no tube and you couldn’t take any money away.

“I had cash, but not my roommate, so I had to borrow him money to buy things.”

The Power Cut also led to an information -Black -out, as people spent the day without internet, WhatsApp, calls and TV.

“The full loss of communication was the most confusing and relevant thing … We were only left to speculate about the cause and cooperation news of people in the neighborhood,” said Daniel Clegg from Barcelona.

The 42-year-old said that the absence of information led him to look at heaven to see if planes were still flying.

For Siegfried and Christine Buschchlüter, an old Windup transistor radio helped to coordinate local radio stations to find out what happened after their phones no longer work and the power went into their rural house outside the capital of Spain.

Christine, 82, explained: “You had to continue to wriggle and wriggle.

“It was quite a strange situation. I was born in Berlin during the war and it reminded me of those days when my parents tried to get something new – it cost me back.”

The couple thinks that the malfunction will lead to a tree that is operated on batteries.

And it is also on Daniel’s shopping list. “Essential kit for Back to Basics Communication and remain informed that I have completely neglected myself to remember.”

Microwaves, air frees and some cooking places and ovens all require electricity.

But on Monday, food was not required to heat or prepare electricity, there was a lot of demand for it.

In supermarkets, shoppers formed long queues and panic-purchased essence ultrasound scenes of the COVID-19 Pandemie.

“We bought a lot of food that would not go out, such as tuna in cans, in case,” says actor Jaime.

“The malfunction only took a day and now we have so much food, but most is not going badly, because it is easily stored.”

Lesley Elder, in the city of Fortuna in southeastern Spain, said: “Trying to find food that you don’t have to warm up, that was more difficult than we thought.

“So we finally got ham and cheese for dinner.”

She adds a little gas stove to heat food in a pan would have been useful.

On the Iberian peninsula, people turned to candles to relieve dark spaces.

Richard, who lives in the Spanish city of Alcalá de Henares, said there was no street light when the night fell.

“People found their way through Torchlight. It was quite surreal to see the view from my window completely black, especially because I live next to a double lane,” he said.

“In my spare time I make candles and luckily I had a few go there, so I could see in the dark.”

Sarah Baxter, from Barcelona, ​​said she even used a candle to warm up food.

“We can heat beans and rice and bring water to the boil for direct potatoes,” she said.

“It was much safer than a propane camping stove in the apartment.”

Although candles and naked flames can form a fire risk.

Without Power, people trusted having battery on their devices.

In Madrid, people stood in line outside of technical stores to get hold of a power bank.

Fortunately for Sarah, she had a solar charger who held her phone through ten hours of Black -out and helped her elderly neighbor do the same.

Lesley says that her Kindle no longer has a battery. “No TV, no scrabble puzzle on my phone. So having a few books would have been useful,” she said.

But for others there was no access to the internet and their devices a relief.

“Everyone trusts technology in such a way that it is quite a nice memory that you can be more independent,” said Ed.

“You don’t always have to be connected to everyone,” said his roommate Hannah Steiner, 23. “I had a good time with my roommates.”

Sara Francisco, 24, from Leiria, in Central Portugal, said: “I feel that this thing that happened was important to make us more aware and to be more aware of our customs.”

Other items Recommended by the British Government In an emergency include bottled water, a first aid kit and baby supplies if necessary.

Does the power outage still have an influence on your life? Click here To tell us how or use the form below.