Five things you need in case of electricity shutdown

The authorities are out and nothing works. How should I survive the day?

This was a question that millions of people face on Monday through Spain and Portugal during the worst obscuration of electricity in their history.

We ask people who spent the day without electricity about what helped them to continue their lives and what items were lacked.

Payment of the phone and maps became the norm, but in the cities of Spain and Portugal, the queues formed by cash machines – at least those who still worked – when the shops were shut off by card payments.

“We managed to pay for our coffee with the card when the shutdown first started (but later) we had no money, so we couldn’t buy anything,” said the 26th Ed Row in Madrid.

“All open restaurants were only available.”

Grace O’lir, 32, who also lives in the Spanish capital, said she and her mom considered coins to find out if she had enough money to buy wine in the corner store.

“Cash is probably the king.”

The 28 -year -old Jaime Giorgio was lucky enough to receive money for him, which allowed him to buy food and other essentials.

“In Madrid it was quite chaotic, there was no tube, and you couldn’t pick up any money.

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

Electricity shutdown has also led to information darkening, as people spent the day without the Internet, WhatsApp, calls and television.

“The complete loss of communication was the most confusing and tangent business … We only have to think about the reason and write news from people in the neighborhood,” said Daniel Clegg from Barcelona.

The 42-year-old guy said that the lack of information led him to the look of the sky to find out whether the planes were flying.

For Sigfried and Christine Bushluter, old radio Windup Transistor helped tune the local radio stations to find out what was happening after their phones stopped working and the authorities went to their rural home near the Spanish capital.

Christina, 82, explained: “You needed to continue the winding and winding.

“It was a pretty strange situation. I was born in Berlin during the war, and it reminded me of the days when my parents tried to get the news – it returned me back.”

The couple believe that the shutdown will lead to the boom in the demand on the radio stations that work on the batteries.

And it is also on the Daniel shopping list. “The main kit for returning to the main communication and informed that I was completely neglected to remember.”

Microwave ovens, air fryes and some cooking and furnaces require electricity.

But on Monday, food that does not require electricity to heat or prepare it were required.

In supermarkets, buyers formed long queues and panic essentials-echo scenes from the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We bought a lot of food that was not going like a tuna in a can, just in case,” says actor Jime.

“The shutdown lasted only a day, and now we have so much food, but most of them will not go poorly because it is easy to be saved.”

Leslie Elder, in the city of Fortun in southeastern Spain, said: “Trying to find food you don’t need to heat, it was more difficult than we thought.

“So we had a ham and a cheese for dinner.”

It adds a small gas stove to heat the food in the pan would be useful.

Through the Iberian Peninsula, people turned to candles to lighten dark spaces.

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

“People found the road on the torch. It was quite surreal, seeing the appearance from my window completely black, especially since I live near the double roadway,” he said.

“In my free time I make candles, and fortunately I had some spare so I could see in the dark.”

Sarah Bakster, from Barcelona, ​​said she even used a plate for the food candle.

“We could heat the beans and rice and bring the water to a boil for instant potatoes,” she said.

“It was much safer than a gauge oven in the apartment.”

Although candles and naked flames can pose a fire risk.

Without strength, people were counting on the availability of battery on their devices.

In Madrid, people were queuing in the boundaries of technical stores to get hands at the power bank.

Fortunately for Sarah, she had a solar charger that kept her phone after ten hours of shutdown and helped the elderly neighbor do the same.

Leslie says her Kindle ended the battery. “No TV or puzzle on my phone. Therefore, having several books would be useful,” she said.

But for others, not having internet access and their devices was relieved.

“Everyone looks like technology that is a very good reminder that you can be more independent,” Ed said.

“You don’t need to be connected with everyone all the time,” said Judge Hanna Steiner, 23 years old. “I spent a good time with my comrades.”

Sarah Francis, 24 years old, from Lyaria, in Central Portugal, said: “I feel it happened, it is important that we are more aware and be more aware of our habits.”