The Day and Night When the Lights Went Out in Spain
A Love Letter to Spain and a Note of Hope to the U.S.
Yesterday, in case you missed it while scrolling through memes or election doom posts, Spain (and our next-door neighbors in Portugal and France) received a crash course in “What If the Apocalypse Came Without Zombies?”
Around 12:30 p.m., everything flickered out. Electricity? Nope. Phone signal? Nada. Mobile data? Ha. In some places, the blackout lasted over 12 hours. For a while, the only thing “on” was the collective human spirit.
Now, a blackout isn’t just a blip on the news ticker. It’s a stress test. Because if the true measure of a person is how they respond to a crisis, perhaps the same applies to a country.
So, how did Spain do?
The Official Response: Keep Calm and Get Organized
First, let’s be real: nobody had this on their Bingo card. Investigations are ongoing, and while I’m still placing friendly bets on “Orc Mischief” (shoutout to my fellow LOTR nerds), the cause remains a mystery.
What’s not a mystery? The calm competence of the institutional response.
- Regional contingency plans clicked into gear like a well-staged flamenco show.
- Hospitals and prisons switched to backup generators, just like it was any other Tuesday.
- Police and Guardia Civil fanned out nationwide, covering big cities and tiny pueblos.
- Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez gave not one but two public addresses, because leadership isn’t just a title, it’s a job.
- At the time of writing this essay, there were no fatalities, and the blackout did not trigger any medical emergencies. Emergency services stepped up like champs, albeit employing some pretty loud sirens.
- Major train stations remained open overnight, providing a safe place for stranded travelers to sleep.
The Civic Response: Beer, Balconies, and Basic Human Decency
Institutions are only half the story. The real magic? That happened in the streets.
I was sipping a café con leche in my local bar in the Triana neighborhood of Seville, where neighbors gather for elevenses. (Another LOTR reference for fans.) It reminded me of my old life in the Church Hill neighborhood in Richmond, Virginia, after hurricanes, and in Chicago, after blizzards did their worst: neighbors banding together, helping each other cope, laughing through the uncertainty.
Here in Triana, people did what they do best: they adapted.
No hoarding. No fighting. No “Lord of the Flies” scrums in the supermarket aisles.
Instead, they lined up politely for supplies. They stayed in the bars and ordered more beers, and when cash registers and card readers went kaput, the beer still flowed. (Turns out, beer taps don’t need electricity. Write that down.)
Folks spotted someone short on cash? Someone else picked up their tab. Trust me, a cerveza makes survival more pleasant.
Meanwhile, traffic lights blinked out, but drivers slowed down, waving each other through intersections using hand signals — not fingers.
Panic? Rage? Not here. Just a communal shrug, a clink of glasses, and a transistor radio humming news updates from a balcony nearby.
Note to self: Must buy a transistor radio. And always carry cash.
When the lights finally returned in the middle of the night, people cheered like Spain had just won the World Cup. Okay, maybe not that loud, but the vibe? After all, it was after midnight, but it was unmistakably joyful.
Spain Held Steady (and Gave Me Hope)
Listen, I’m not saying Spain is perfect. No country is. I’m still half-convinced that some mischievous Balrog knocked out the power grid. (I’ll stop with the LOTR eggs now.)
And yes, 12 hours is a relatively short crisis. In bigger disasters — like the floods in Valencia just last year — mistakes were made and mud was thrown. Hard. At people. Like the King.
But here’s the thing: countries, like people, grow under pressure. Every challenge leaves a mark. And if yesterday was any indication, Spain learned.
Systems worked. Communities worked. People worked. Together.
And that trust? It matters. It’s what makes living here feel like you’re part of something larger than your paperwork file at the immigration office.
It’s the trust I grew up believing in back in the United States — a trust I know many Americans still desperately want to feel again. Trust that in a pinch, our institutions and our neighbors won’t fail us. That in a blackout of any kind — literal or political — we’d show up for each other.
So yes, yesterday wasn’t just a news story. It was a reminder.
As my friend James Blick said in his Move to Spain Master Class, when you plan a move to Spain — or anywhere — it’s not just about logistics and visas. It’s about finding (or building) a community that holds steady when the lights go out. It’s not about running away from home as much as running towards a new one. One that might just fit better, like an old pair of jeans.
Luckily, I’ve found that here. And I’m still hoping that my old home, in the United States, can also find its way back into my spirit.
Because, whether you’re sipping a cerveza with new friends under a streetlight gone dark in Seville or helping a neighbor clear snow in Chicago, the truth remains:
Community matters. Clarity matters. Confidence matters. Doing what matters matters.
Spain passed the stress test yesterday. May we all, wherever we are, be ready to pass the next one.
