When the grid goes down,
there will be no warning.
28 April 2025: millions of people in Spain without power, signal or information for hours. Protocols and tested gear to get through days without supply in a flat, in English for anyone living in Spain. Next time, don’t get caught without a plan.
It doesn’t only happen here
Major blackouts in countries with first-class grids.
Europe’s biggest blackout in 20 years
without power on the peninsula
for the whole grid to collapse
mobile, internet or trains
45,000 homes and 2,200 businesses without power, heating or phone, in sub-zero temperatures and snow.
Cause: arson sabotageAlmost the whole country without power for hours. One of the biggest blackouts of the century.
Cause: transmission line failureMillions of homes without power or heating in the middle of a cold snap. People died.
Cause: extreme coldPeople without power in nine countries at once, Spain included.
Cause: cascading failure from GermanyAlmost all of Italy in the dark for hours. Millions of people affected.
Cause: storm in SwitzerlandPeople without power; in some areas, for days.
Cause: cascading failureSources: ENTSO-E and international press.
Priorities
In this order. No fuss.
72-hour kit
For the first 72 hours without the grid you’re on your own. This is the minimum the EU recommends to get through them.
Christmas gifts
Give something that works when it really matters.
See ideas →Batteries and panels
No electricity means no fridge, no light and no phone. This is how you keep the essentials going.
Compare →Food and water
Without power, the building stops pumping. Have water before you turn on the tap and nothing comes out.
Read →30 days in a flat
A long cut can’t be improvised. A week-by-week plan.
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Read article →The next blackout
won’t give a warning.
Today you have time and the shops are open. That day, you won’t.
Start now