Many of you will have heard that Spain suffered a catastrophic power outage yesterday. There was a total blackout of the entire country, parts of Southern France, and parts of Portugal for 6 to 8 hours, longer in a few areas. We were fortunate to have been out of town, returning only after the lights were back on. However, it does not take much imagination to understand the potential for calamity in a modern society suddenly without power – elevators, trains, traffic lights, internet access, financial payment systems – all frozen in an instant across the entire country.
As a member of the local International Women’s Club, Bonnie monitors a very active social chat group composed of English-speaking Valencian expats. This was one of our primary sources of news during the day and evening as we traveled back from Belgium, concerned about what we might find on arriving home shortly after midnight. We felt it might be worthwhile to share a few of the chat group comments. These are unedited, lifted directly from the chat.
- Worthy of note regarding yesterday: six+ hours of chaos, confusion , uncertainty and possible danger but the Spanish people (from what I saw) stayed calm and considerate of one another. The response of the people, as a whole, is remarkable and newsworthy. An example to other societies, in my opinion.
- I have noticed that the Spanish are remarkedly civilized in day-to-day behavior as well and the level of aggressive street behavior that I’ve observed in other countries is much less and calmer here.
- I think they practice for most situations one of my favorite words in their language “nos apañamos” which doesn’t have a translation to English but refers to “we get by one way or another.”
- Most amazing to me were the drivers – where there weren’t traffic lights, they drove slowly, carefully, courteously – and let pedestrians cross. Really wonderful.
- Yesterday was surreal. Although I saw a news story that said there was chaos, I saw only people taking it in stride. Even the drivers stuck in traffic were handling it ok, especially once they saw there were police helping direct traffic.
- I was at a huge gathering for the 14:00 mascleta and although we waited a long time before a policeman came over and told us it wasn’t happening, no one got mad. No angry voices, no shouts at the police for not informing us sooner – no malice at all that I saw. Instead, many thanked the police officer for walking over and telling us it was cancelled. To me, this scene was the opposite of chaos. Granted, I wasn’t stuck in a subway car so I can’t attest to that situation.
- When I got home later in the evening, people were outside in small gatherings around the neighborhood, calmly and warmly talking to each other. I was so impressed by the crowd’s and then the neighborhood’s composure. The situation reminded me again of one of the many reasons for loving it here.
- We have guests who had to walk up 18 flights to our apartment, and they were good sports too. Dinner was tuna sandwiches paired with a fine wine.
- I was outside walking from 3pm – 6pm, in different parts. I saw everyone being cooperative – from drivers to people walking on the streets or gathering politely waiting to pick up bread from the bakers to “para llevar” [to take away] store fronts. Definitely I was happy not to be traveling by train or plane – lots of disruption for those folks. I hope they all got to where they needed to go.
- Prior to moving here (which was only last December!), I spent most of my life in DC and NYC. When the power went out and we realized it was widespread, my mind immediately envisioned panic, mass looting, utter chaos. I was really worried about the whole situation, especially because our Spanish is so pitiful. Our reality was so different. The Valencian neighbors in our building invited everyone (4 families total) into their home. They had a battery-operated radio and translated to us what they were hearing. They kept reassuring us (the only expats) that all was well, we would be fine. Lots of hand patting and “tranquilla.” Everyone in the building exuded such a comforting feeling of safety and companionship. I hope what we all experienced yesterday doesn’t happen again, but if it does, I am so grateful to be living here amongst this generous-minded community and country.
- People in our building, hearing we had a gas hob [stove], were soon knocking on our door asking if they could come and heat up food. Locals were asking if they could bring food to those stranded at train stations that remained open through the night. I heard reports of taxi drivers helping people get where they needed to go without asking for payment.
Valencia isn’t without problems. In our 2+ years here, there’s been a horrific fire in a high-rise residential building, a catastrophic flood, and yesterday’s country-wide power outage that lasted for many hours. In all these situations, the response of the Valencianos has been the same – compassion, unity, thoughtfulness, and calm. They just care for one another.
Viva España
