The current has interrupted and nothing works, as was the case with Spain and Portugal the previous days. What do I do? This was the question that millions of people in Spain and Portugal faced Monday, during the most serious current in their history.
The BBC asked those who spent the day without electricity that helped to see their job and what essential things they lacked.
The cash remains king in such situations
Payment with the phone and card became a norm, but in the cities of Spain and Portugal, queues were formed at the ATMs that were still working-as the shops gave up card payments.
“We managed to pay the coffee with the card when it started up with the current, [dar mai târziu] I had no money, so I couldn't buy anything, “said Ed Rowe, 26, from Madrid, for the BBC.
“All the restaurants that were open accepted only cash.”
Grace O'Leary, 32, who also lives in the capital of Spain, said that she and her mother were counting their coins to see if she had enough money to buy wine from a corner store.
“It seems, however, Cash Is King,” she says.
28 -year -old Jaime Giorgio was fortunate to have some money at him, which allowed him to buy food and other things of strict necessity.
“In Madrid it was quite chaotic, there is no subway and you could not make cash.”
“I had money, but my apartment colleague did not, so I had to borrow money to buy things.”
Radio with batteries
Until the current has also led to an informational current, people spending the day without internet, WhatsApp, calls and television.
“The complete loss of communication was the most confused and worrying thing … we only had to speculate on the cause and gather news from the people in the neighborhood,” said Daniel Clegg from Barcelona.
The 42 -year -old man said that the absence of information was determined to look at the sky to see if the planes were flying.
For Siegfried and Christine Buschschluter, an old radio with transistors helped to connect to local radio stations to find out what happens after their phones have stopped working and interrupted the current at their house outside the capital of Spain.
“It was a pretty strange situation. I was born in Berlin during the war and reminded me of those days when my parents were trying to get news-he took me in the past.”
The couple believes that the current wedge will lead to an increase in the demand for batteries.
And it is also on Daniel's shopping list. “I will take an essential kit for basic communications to help me stay informed.”
Canned food
Microwave ovens, hot air fryer and some hobs and ovens require electricity.
But Monday, foods that do not require electricity for heating or preparation have been in high demand.
In supermarkets, buyers formed long queues and, being panicked, bought strict necessity products-reminding scenes from the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I bought a lot of canned foods that would not break, such as canned tone, for any eventuality,” says actor Jaime.
“Until it lasted only one day and now we have so much food, but most will not break, because it is easy.”
Lesley Elder, from the city of Fortuna in southeastern Spain, said: “It was more difficult than we thought we would find food that we should not warm.”
“So we got to have ham and cheese at dinner.”
It would have been helpful if we had a small stove to heat the food in a pan.
Candles and torches
Throughout the Iberian peninsula, people have turned to candles to light the dark spaces.
Richard, who lives in the Spanish city of Alcalá de Henares, said that no felt was lit when he left the night.
“People were oriented to the flashlight. It was quite unreal to see the view from my completely dark window, especially since I live near a two -lane highway,” he said.
“In my spare time, I make candles and, fortunately, I had some reserve, so I could see in the dark.”
Sarah Baxter from Barcelona said she used a candle to heat a hob to have hot food.
“We could heat the beans and rice and bring the water to an instant potatoes,” she said.
“It was much safer than a campsite with propane inside the apartment.” Although open candles and flames may present a fire risk.
External battery
Without electricity, people were based on the batteries of their devices.
In Madrid, people were queuing in front of technology stores to get their hands on a power bank.
Fortunately for Sarah, she had a solar charger that kept the phone charged for ten hours.
Lesley says her kindle was left without a battery. “No TV, no scrabble puzzles on the phone. So it would have been helpful to have a few books,” she said.
But for others, the lack of access to the internet and their devices was a relief.
“Everyone relies so much on technology that it was relaxing for me to meet them,” said Ed.
“You don't have to be connected to everyone all the time,” said his apartment colleague, Hannah Steiner, 23 years old. “I had a great time with my apartment colleagues.”
Sara Francisco, 24 years old, from Leiria, the center of Portugal, said: “I think this that happened was important to make us more aware of our habits and remind us that it is possible without so much technology.”
