Alicante Survives a Day of Nightmare

Sunrise returns to Postiguet Beach this Tuesday as Alicante regains normalcy after a nightmare day following the massive blackout that affected all of Spain on Monday. Electricity was restored to all parts of the city past midnight, although it was recovered by neighborhoods. The main urban roads regained power around 6:30 PM and lit their streetlights before 10 PM, although electricity was restored in phases.

By midday this Tuesday, nearly 100% of the electricity supply in the city has been restored. Some areas in the industrial zones remain, "very specific areas where manual work is ongoing," stated the Mayor of Alicante, Luis Barcala, in a briefing to account for everything that happened on a day that the people of Alicante will remember forever.

Regarding traffic lights and cameras, the main road traffic lights are fully operational; while those on other streets and intersections are at 95%. The traffic control room was restarted early this morning, and the cameras are also mostly operational. Specific incidents are being manually reviewed with the provider, according to municipal sources.

Regarding the potable water supply, the service has been restored throughout the municipality, according to Aguas de Alicante. Early this Tuesday, the service was fully restored to all residents of the rural areas of Moralet and Verdegás. Except for these two areas, which were without supply for a few hours, the rest of the city had service. However, houses that rely on pressure groups did not have water in their homes.

It could have been much worse. The power outage occurred around 12:30 PM - 24 hours before this briefing by Barcala - on a very sunny day in Alicante. This circumstance allowed time to set up an emergency device at the City Hall: Local Police, to regulate traffic; Firefighters, mainly for elevator rescues and incidents; and Civil Protection, for assistance.

At the level of Local Police and Security, the mayor indicated, there was a reinforcement of the operation in coordination with State Security Forces and Corps. The mayor, Luis Barcala, went to the Government Subdelegation to participate in a meeting with members of the Civil Guard and the National Police, thus convening the Cecopal. The balance could not be more satisfactory: "No incidents were recorded, the night was normal, there were no robberies or disturbances," assured the mayor. However, one person was reported missing, apparently with a history of similar incidents, according to consulted sources.

The only security incident was the stay of about 50 people at the Renfe station, assisted by the Red Cross. The humanitarian organization provided them with blankets and food to spend the night. Some still had them this Tuesday morning, when rail traffic resumed and they could return to their homes.

Regarding firefighters, also reinforced, interventions on the night from Monday to Tuesday were limited to ten water breakages as the service was restored in some communities. The Fire Prevention, Extinction, and Rescue Service (Speis) carried out more than 100 elevator rescues since midday Monday, in addition to securing a risky light pole and a domestic gas leak. The only declared fire was a burning container, with no personal injuries reported.

"Very difficult decisions had to be made," acknowledged the mayor, Luis Barcala. The municipal security and emergency forces "doubled shifts" on Monday to address all incidents, which were fortunately resolved without injuries. Barcala wanted to acknowledge the "behavior" of the people of Alicante on a day, yet another, historic for the city.

The Mayor of Alicante pointed out that "we must not let our guard down" after this situation caused by the great blackout that turned into a nightmare for the city of Alicante. The City Council has stockpiled 1,600 liters of diesel to replenish various municipal facilities in case there is another blackout as has happened in other parts of Spain, he noted.