Latest news with #IsabelDiazAyuso
Al Etihad
28-04-2025
- General
- Al Etihad
286 rescues in Madrid from lifts during blackout
28 Apr 2025 23:49 MADRID (AFP)Emergency services workers carried out 286 rescue operations on Monday to free people trapped inside elevators in Spain's Madrid region during a nationwide blackout, the head of the regional government went out across Spain and Portugal on Monday, halting train traffic, clogging roads, stopping metro trains and trapping people in elevators before electricity started to return to some areas after hours of disruption."What we are now dealing with more frequently are cases of people trapped in lifts. We have received 286 requests" for help, the head of the regional government of Madrid, Isabel Diaz Ayuso, said during an interview with private television station Antena Spanish capital's vast metro system which moves some two million people daily was evacuated "without incident", she man posted a video on social media saying the blackout trapped him in a lift without coverage for around 40 minutes."By hitting the door and shouting a neighbour heard me and informed the municipal police," who came half an hour later to free him, he said. Spain and Portugal have a highly integrated energy grid that operates as an energy island and is linked to the rest of Europe through a small number of cross-border interconnections with France.
NDTV
28-04-2025
- General
- NDTV
286 Rescue Ops Carried Out From Madrid Elevators During Blackout In Spain
Madrid: Emergency services workers carried out 286 rescue operations on Monday to free people trapped inside elevators in Spain's Madrid region during a nationwide blackout, the head of the regional government said. Power went out across Spain and Portugal on Monday, halting train traffic, clogging roads, stopping metro trains and trapping people in elevators before electricity started to return to some areas after hours of disruption. "What we are now dealing with more frequently are cases of people trapped in lifts. We have received 286 requests" for help, the head of the regional government of Madrid, Isabel Diaz Ayuso, said during an interview with private television station Antena 3. The Spanish capital's vast metro system which moves some two million people daily was evacuated "without incident", she added. One man posted a video on social media saying the blackout trapped him in a lift without coverage for around 40 minutes. "By hitting the door and shouting a neighbour heard me and informed the municipal police," who came half an hour later to free him, he said. Spain and Portugal have a highly integrated energy grid that operates as an energy island and is linked to the rest of Europe through a small number of cross-border interconnections with France.
Russia Today
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Massive blackout hits EU countries
A huge power outage struck Spain and Portugal around midday on Monday, paralyzing public transport and delaying flights, according to media reports. The cause of the blackout remains unknown. The governments of the two EU nations have convened emergency cabinet meetings following the outage, which also briefly affected parts of France. In Spain, blackouts were reported in Seville, Barcelona and Pamplona, with additional disruptions in Valencia. Metro services in Madrid and Barcelona were suspended, forcing passengers to evacuate trains and walk along the tracks, according to footage circulating online. Telephone lines were reportedly down across much of Spain, and Madrid's main airport was left without power. Hundreds of people stood outside office buildings on Madrid's streets and there was a heavy police presence around key buildings, directing traffic and patrolling central atriums with lights, according to Reuters, citing witnesses. Así está el aeropuerto de Barajas Madrid # A major tennis tournament in Madrid has been suspended due to the blackout. Spain's Channel 6 television has continued broadcasting in darkness. Portugal and parts of southern France also reported network failures, according to local media. 🔴 #ÚLTIMAHORA | Apagón de luz en Madrid y en Cibeles no funcionan ni los semáforos Spain's national grid operator said a 'major incident' in the energy transmission system may have caused the blackout. Power companies stated they were working to restore services as quickly as possible. The president of Madrid's regional government, Isabel Diaz Ayuso asked Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to authorize the use of the army if needed. 🔴 #DIRECTO | Las paradas de metro precintadas en Madrid 'We ask the national government to activate Plan 3 so that the Army can maintain order, if necessary,' she said. Sanchez is reportedly on an emergency trip to the headquarters of Red Electrica, the national grid operator, as officials are working 'to understand the origin' of the outage and what can be done to resolve it quickly. Speaking at a news conference, Red Electrica CEO Eduardo Prieto said the operation to restore power could take 'between six and ten hours.' España sufre un apagón Francia y Portugal también se reportaron cortes inesperados de energía elé metro de Madrid dejó de funcionar a raíz del apagon en toda España y aún no se sabe el motivo del corte The Portuguese grid operator, Redes Energeticas Nacionais (REN), has said it is still too early to determine when power will be fully restored. 'At this time, it is still impossible to predict when the situation will be normalized,' REN said in a statement, adding that it had 'all resources deployed' to resolve the outage, according to AFP. Senior European Commission Vice-President Teresa Ribera told Spanish Radio 5 that there was no evidence so far that the blackout was caused by a deliberate act such as sabotage or a cyberattack.
Observer
15-03-2025
- Health
- Observer
Madrid leader under fire after documentary on nursing home deaths in pandemic
MADRID: A documentary on the deaths of thousands of elderly nursing home residents denied hospital care in Spain's Madrid region during the Covid-19 pandemic prompted calls on Friday for the president of the region to resign over her handling of the crisis. Conservative firebrand Isabel Diaz Ayuso, a senior figure in the country's opposition People's Party, won global fame for keeping Madrid's vibrant bars and restaurants open during the pandemic, protecting the hospitality industry. But in March 2020, the region decided not to give hospital treatment to seniors at care homes with severe illnesses or disabilities in order to limit transfers to hospitals that were nearing collapse. The decision became known as the "protocols of shame". Nursing home residents with private health insurance did get hospital treatment, as did those who did not meet exclusion criteria such as limited mobility or impaired cognition. The European Committee of the Regions has estimated that Madrid had the highest excess mortality of any European region during the pandemic, at around 44 per cent above the average. The independent film "7,291", aired by state broadcaster TVE late on Thursday, refers to the commonly accepted death toll related to the protocols, based on the region's own data. "Society needs to know what happened so that it doesn't repeat itself," the documentary's director, Juanjo Castro, said. "Our elderly didn't deserve this and I hope this project will stir consciences." Nearly 3 million unique viewers watched the film that aired well past midnight, according to consultancy Barlovento. Afterwards, Transport Minister Oscar Puente described the events as a "gerontocaust" on X, where a hashtag calling on Ayuso to resign was the main trending topic. Ayuso has called the 7,291 figure "an invention" used by "the left and far left to agitate". Her administration has said the actual figure of those who died at nursing homes with a Covid diagnosis between March and April 2020 was 4,100, although tests were not widely available during the pandemic's first wave. Officials also complained about the decision by state TV to focus on Madrid instead of other regions. Relatives of 115 nursing home residents who died launched a collective lawsuit in October 2024 accusing regional authorities of denying healthcare on discriminatory grounds. Prosecutors have yet to decide whether to bring them before courts. Most of an earlier 300 lawsuits by relatives of the diseased have been dismissed and an inquiry in the regional assembly was shut down in July 2021. Ayuso defended her decision to prioritise reopening businesses and criticised the more restrictive approach by the central government of Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in a video message on Wednesday, five years on from the pandemic. Ayuso, who has headed Spain's capital region since 2019, has a full majority in the regional assembly and does not face reelection until 2027. — Reuters
