How an Indian man and his Malaysian wife braved a 12-hour blackout in Portugal: ‘No internet, network, cooking'

Hindustan Times

30-04-2025

A massive blackout plunged large parts of Spain, Portugal, and even southern France into darkness on Monday, leaving millions without electricity. An Indian man living in Portugal with his Malaysian wife and kids has documented how they survived the 12-hour blackout.
'Portugal without electricity sent us back to the cave ages, which to be honest, I didn't mind. For a brief moment when the whole region was on somewhat panic mode, my first thought was: 'My kids are not going to have internet tonight'. How did you guys do?' reads the caption of a post shared on Instagram by the family.
They also posted several slides, along with photos, to give a glimpse of how they managed during the outage. A text insert on the first slide reads, 'Portugal without power for 12 hours. No internet, no phone network, no contact with the outside world. Our house runs on electricity so no cooking either.'
The family documented that after the initial shock, things started settling, and then the whole situation became 'liberating'.
A post shared by @portuguese_chindians
'Sounds like y'all are surviving,' an individual wrote. Another joined, 'Love the sound of it!' A third posted, 'I didn't enjoy it.'
Al Jazeera reported that Redes Energeticas Nacionais (REN), Portugal's electricity provider, cited a 'rare atmospheric phenomenon' as the reason behind the blackout.
'Due to extreme temperature variations in the interior of Spain, there were anomalous oscillations in the very high voltage lines (400 kV), a phenomenon known as 'induced atmospheric vibration',' REN said.
However, Spain's national meteorological office, Aemet, disagreed with REN's statement. The department said, 'During the day of 28 April, no unusual meteorological or atmospheric phenomena were detected, and nor were there sudden variations in the temperature in our network of meteorological stations.'