Brits brave the Benidorm blackout: Tourists celebrate as lights come back on after huge Spanish power outage left strip looking like a 'ghost town'

Daily Mail​

29-04-2025

The 'historic' blackout that brought Spain to its knees has left the usually bustling Benidorm strip a ghost town, with tourists and locals describing it as 'eerily quiet'.
The popular holiday destination famous for its heaving night life was forced to close all of its shops and most of its bars as all businesses and residents were left without power.
The mystery blackout is said to have been caused by 'extreme temperature variations' which plunged the nation into mayhem.
But a small number of bars were able to remain open thanks to backup generators, with Spanish locals forced to watch on from their pitch black homes.
One photo shared on X showed an establishment glowing with neon lights while neighbouring apartment blocks remained in the dark.
The Spanish account said: 'We have no electricity but the bars of the guiris never fail!'
Lucy Young, who has lived in Benidorm for over 20 years, said that the atmosphere was 'creepy' without the electricity in Spain.
While people were still seen going out in some areas, where there was no power it was 'eerily quiet'.
She compared it to the 'Covid days as all the bars are closed except this time there's loads of people still' walking around together.
The influencer said the kebab shops had been very busy all day, with queues of people lining up outside, because they could still serve food thanks to using gas.
She added: 'What a strange day it has been and what a strange night it still is.'
Frankie Beats shared another video on X showing the boarded up shops and quiet streets.
The international DJ said that the traffic lights were down and fire services have spent the whole day rescuing people in lifts. There was no phone signal or any radio stations that worked either.
He added that all the shops were closed but 'some bars remain open with an "exact payment only" policy'.
Fellow British traveller Nigel Brown last night shared 'very strange' footage from Benidorm's main square, which was almost pitch black due to the majority of bars being closed.
He wrote: 'Well this is bloody strange! Only a few bars open and the Benidorm Square in darkness apart from Cafe Benidorm. Come on Spain, get the electrics sorted!'
John Calvin - another tourist - jokingly wrote 'b****y beer's warm. Any chance of sorting this out @Spain I can't drink warm beer in Benidorm'.
Timmy Mac, who is staying in the holiday hotspot, shared a video of a quiet restaurant with 'no boom boom boom music'.
Despite the lack of electricity, the tourist still managed to get a pint of beer.
Usually bustling, the restaurant on the beach was largely empty with many tourists wandering around as they took stock of the chaos that gripped the country.
British bar owner Derek Bown said he would be keeping his establishment closed on Tuesday following the chaos.
He wrote: 'The Soul Bar was closed yesterday all day due to the electricity issues... the bar is also closed today Tuesday.'
Meanwhile, one Brit claimed she was forced to fork out over €1,000 in taxis after her flight to Alicante was diverted to Barcelona.
Sharon Vincent said: 'Finally got here at 8am after a £900 euro taxi bill!
'Unfortunately Ryanair couldn't put on any coaches so the taxi firms were very busy... Not going to let this ruin our 3 day holiday!
'Thought we were coming to Benidorm for the first time, we've ended up in Barcelona airport, great start to our 3 day break!'
Renowned for its night life, tourists were seen wondering the dark streets last night and flocking to bars that still had electricity.
Most of the the bars and restaurants that were without power stayed closed but many of their outside areas still had people sitting around tables.
Huge apartment blocks were seen without lights and the famous Strip, also known as Calle Gerona, was partially in darkness.
Even though the power outage didn't stop the party-loving tourists, screams of joy and clapping were heard across the city when streetlamps flickered back on.
Whistles could be heard and people were cheering from their apartment balconies as the rest of Spain had their power return this morning.
And Brits travelling to the seaside resort complained of 'total chaos' after flights were diverted hundreds of kilometres away and cash machines stopped working due to a 'historic' blackout.
Brit tourist Molly Stagg wrote on Facebook in the early hours of Tuesday: 'Just landed in Barcelona instead of Alicante!
'Do not travel to Benidorm there is a power cut… me and my family are stranded in Barcelona airport with no transfers anywhere.'
Meanwhile, David Crossley said: 'What a disaster of a day, Benidorm has been completely out of power.
'No cash machines or card machines working and did I have any euros? Not a penny as I booked it last minute!
'No signal or internet for me to try to source money, it's been an absolute nightmare!
'Sorry to anyone trying to get hold of me… the internet is very poor at the moment and we still have no power.
'We are in the one club that's powered by its own generators sharing a pint so we don't run out of the little cash we have.'
Spain's socialist government is now facing furious backlash over Monday's blackout chaos, with the State of Emergency continuing into today as thousands of extra police officers have been brought in to uphold order and prevent looting.
The interior ministry said the emergency status would be applied in the regions that request it, amid fears the chaos could last for days.
The cause of Monday's power outage was unclear. Spanish premier Pedro Sanchez said that the country had lost 15GW of electricity generation in five seconds - equivalent to 60 per cent of national demand.
While one official said Spain has not ruled out a cyber attack, authorities were reluctant to speculate.
REN, Portugal's grid operator, said they believed a 'rare atmospheric phenomenon' was behind the outages.
Energy experts warned that the grids may also have been made less stable by wide adoption of renewable energy - after Spain's power grid ran entirely on renewables for the first time earlier this month.
In the end, Spain was forced to draw power from France and Morocco to restore power to the north and south of the country.
'Welcome to Pedro Sánchez's third world,' one Spanish user wrote on X this morning. Another called for a 'general strike', blasting the head of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) as a 'traitor'.
Panic buying began sweeping across Spain and Portugal yesterday afternoon while transport networks were shut down without an electricity supply.
Huge queues formed outside shops and banks as residents and tourists desperately sought to stockpile essentials and take out cash as much cash as they could amid the uncertainty.
Rows of cars were pictured lining up at petrol stations as people hoped to fill up their vehicles and fuel cans, with ex-pats detailing how they have tried to power generators to keep their homes going.
Airports were also been hit by the outages, with flights delayed and cancelled and holidaymakers in Portugal warned by the country's flagship airline TAP Air not to travel for their flights until further notice.