MADRID, April 28 (Reuters) – A major power outage in Spain and Portugal left people trapped in lifts and stuck on trains, while others stocked up on basics in supermarkets or began long walks home from work.
At Atocha, one of Madrid’s main railway stations, passengers stood waiting on platforms with trains at a standstill. ATM screens were blank and police were trying to herd people towards central gathering points.
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Ana Cordero, a tourist from Puerto Rico, was just departing Madrid for Barcelona when the power failed. She and her boyfriend were trapped on the train for three hours.
“After about an hour the train’s (emergency) battery died and then – that’s it, the bathrooms weren’t working,” she said. “It’s so stupid because everything was electronic, even to wash your hands.”
Eventually their train was evacuated and passengers walked back to the station along the tracks.
She said they had nowhere in Madrid to stay and was worried that hotel prices would be “up, up, up”.
In Portugal, many supermarkets in the capital Lisbon and the resort town of Vilamoura in southern Portugal had shut.
But in a supermarket in Madrid, people were stocking up on water, eggs and milk and some shelves were already empty as long lines formed for the tills.
“I left work and the power suddenly went and people started buying,” said Joanly Perez, a 33-year-old doctor in Madrid. “People aren’t sure what might happen and are buying basic essentials, just in case.”
Oliver Ortiz, a 45-year-old butcher, said he too was buying tins of food “just in case”.
Many stores and taxis in Madrid were no longer accepting electronic payments, and some local shops were giving credit to frequent customers.
Messaging services began registering pleas from people in Spain stuck in elevators.
“I haven’t got much battery left, someone advise me – I’m in a lift that’s stuck and the light is LED with its own battery that’s going to turn off any moment,” said one X user.
Another said they had been stuck in the lift for an hour before getting out, adding: “The worst thing was not knowing how long I was going to be there.”
One online post, which Reuters could not verify, appeared to show window cleaners stuck on Madrid’s Torre de Cristal, Spain’s highest skyscraper.
Police were conducting traffic at some major junctions because the lights had stopped working, and many roads were gridlocked.
On one major junction, staff from the local padel tennis equipment store were using stop signs to help manage the flow of vehicles.
There were long queues at bus stops and many people appeared to have decided to walk home, with the streets full of pedestrians.
Beatriz Sanchez, 40, said she had walked five km (three miles) across Madrid to pick up her daughters from school.
“I picked them up an hour before they were due out. They were happy, but I was worried. I didn’t know if the bus was going to run, because all the stops were full, and I couldn’t get the car out of the car park.”
But one father’s children were less happy when he heeded advice to leave them at school. To make matters worse, his son complained that school lunch had been cold.
Reporting by Catarina Demony, Jennifer O’Mahoney, Elena Rodriguez, Corina Pons and David Latona; Writing by Charlie Devereux; Editing by Kevin Liffey
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