Widespread power outage across Spain and Portugal - are you doing a quick mental stock check?

[NotsosunnyShropshire]

Or are you happy that you’re pretty much good to go if similar happened here tomorrow?

Some areas may take a week to get power back apparently.

I think I want to fill up my car (NHS frontline and I need it for work), and get some cash out, just in case. Everything else should be ok I think. For at least a week anyway.

God bless them. What are hospitals etc doing?

I'd be good for a week. Probably go a bit mad thou. In the ideal world I'd never run my petrol below 1/4 but I'm quite forgetful. I have got four power banks but there would be no Internet or mobile signal.

I was debating getting another tank of gas for the bbq after today's news. I'd be more concerned that my freezer would defrost.

Note to self to top up the car weekly not when on fumes!

I am in central Barcelona. Power has been back on since 7pm

Check list in head yes.
Also need petrol. I use a lot but school and college would close.
Need to charge up one of my power banks.
Cooking/ water heating would be fine this weather in daylight but the freezer would be fucked.
We'd have no hot water. DD could bathe in a bowl. Ds takes cold showers so would have a cold bath.

Isn't this panic buying?!

I'd be good for a while. Ring doorbells would be out presumably so I could hop my neighbour's wall and steal radishes in the style of Peter rabbit.

They have generators and the Spanish public health system is excellent and well prepared/staffed so they were fine.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/elpais.com/economia/2025-04-28/los-hospitales-espanoles-mantienen-su-actividad-con-mas-o-menos-normalidad-gracias-a-los-equipos-electrogenos.html%3foutputType=amp

What's panic buying? Filling up petrol tomorrow when I should have done it today but was too tired? bastard HS2

Preparing for a scenario ahead of time?

Not really when the car uses an entire tank of petrol every ten days. I'd be buying the same amount over ten days if I fill it up every five days or ten. Can't stockpile petrol.

I was always told reacting to something in the news is panic buying, preppers apparently don't change their behaviour & just do their usual routine, preparing for all eventualities so they don't have to react to news. Very common narrative during lockdown. Granted I thought it was bullshit & there isn't much difference between the two!

Plenty of wood for the wood burner , for both warmth and cooking. Plenty of food and wine, and I noticed the parsley seeds I planted are coming up. Plus I have a lemon on my little tree and lots of gin.

Yes I think prepping is about changing your normal behaviour so you don't need to react to an emergency by rushing out to the shops. I'm sorted for most essentials but not if it's during my normal running on fumes day. I do need to change my habits with the car.

Mind you I'd just not use the car I guess. But I'm rural so would be buggered as it's my only method of getting anywhere including the nearest shop six miles away.

Spain and Portugal have an entirely different power grid than us. To panic that our power grid, 1,000+ miles away is going to miraculously follow suit is nothing short of hysterical, frankly. It’s like seeing a Ford broken down on the side of the road and panicking that your Audi is going to do the same….

When looking at risk, you consider cause and consequence, though, @EmmaJane2025The cause of that particular outage may or may not be applicable over here, but there will be other causes that could have the same consequence. So it is perfectly reasonable to ask the question “if we lost all our power, would I be ok?”

We had a five minute conversation about what would happen here if we were in the same position. That was about it.

But we aren’t preppers and so are probably going down with the masses when domesday comes.

Where we live, a lack of electricity would not completely poleaxe us. We have cash, local markets and farm suppliers accepting cash, and public transport running on fossil fuels, still. We’d have to alter our habits for a bit but it wouldn’t be catastrophic as long as it was short lived, like, for less than a week. Any longer than that and then obviously supply chains and public services like water and sewerage, healthcare, food and other consumables, municipal services, etc.

i did think it was absurd today that the news stories featured people having to leave their haircuts half way through: crisis 😂. The definition of a short term first world problem.

I've got a bit of cash at home so should be fine in terms of money. I'd struggle without being able to charge my phone. Need to recharge my power bank. I already have some shows downloaded on my tablet I could watch for entertainment. Work would be impossible though.

I’m in Portugal and the power went off at 11.30, followed by water, and all internet and phone signals

The shops closed as they couldn’t process payments, ditto fuel stations

The worst part was not knowing why it happened and how long it would be out

Thankfully it came back on about an hour ago

I reckon I’d quite like no power to power up my phone and work laptop for a few days ;). imagine the peace. I’m remembering those first days after the very first lockdown in -March 2020 when no one knew what to do and Teams wasn’t really a thing.
But then, I don’t have a safety critical job - no-one will immediately expire if I don’t do my role for a week.

I would worry about contacting my elderly parents. Don’t have a landline. Should probably sort that out although guess landlines could also go down?

There you go: short lived. Hurray.

my kids this evening looked at me gone out when I said power cuts were an intermittent thing here in the uk not so very long ago. I actually don’t think either of my kids (mid teens) have experienced a power cut or a gas shutdown in the UK. Abroad, yes, but only in much less developed economies: how mad is that? They’re totally used to continuous and reliable utilities. Even 30 years ago, power cuts and service interruptions were totally normal to the point where everyone knew where the candle drawer and lighter was.

Thanks for the thread: I came here wanting to ask the same.
I don't like that I would not have been prepared with alternative ways of cooking.
I also think that having a family communications plan in place is very useful: do any of you have one? I mean, for example, if you are separated and communications fail (public transport, blocked roads, no internet, no telephone...).

Yes, I am running through my checklist, and noting a few things that have expired since I made it, and I should replace.

For those thinking this is not necessary, that’s one view, but in late March 2025 the EU recommended citizens prepare a 72 hour emergency kit, with essentials like food, water and medication, so people could be self-sufficient in a crisis.

Fair point

I am slowly getting my stuff together but it's taken me a year 😂

Candles and matches were bought on first lockdown. I've never let my stock of toilet rolls go down low since then either. Petrol never gets below half tank (issues from childhood).

Bought a single pan camping stove and 4x gas canisters a couple of months ago. Two large water bottles today.

Now I need to decide on tinned goods that don't really need cooking. So far I can only think of tinned fruit 😯 No powerbank and not sure i would need one. I think I'm one of those people that accepts their fate and says "eat me, I don't care" to the marauding zombies 😂

Tinned tuna, sardines, corned beef, potatoes, sweetcorn, bread in the freezer