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Wales Online
29-04-2025
- Wales Online
Group of Welsh schoolchildren left stranded in Spain after major power outage
Group of Welsh schoolchildren left stranded in Spain after major power outage The children from a Cardiff school were due home on Monday night but are being well looked after by school staff The Cathedral School, in Llandaff, Cardiff (Image: Google Street View ) A group of students from Cardiff have been left stranded in Spain following the power cuts that affected large parts of Spain on Monday. Spain declared a national emergency after yesterday's (April 28) nationwide power outage forced crucial services like subway systems, payments, airports and hospitals to shut down. While Spain's national grid operator, Red Eléctrica has said that the demand in the affected peninsular electrical system has been 'normalised', disruptions still remain. The pupils from Cardiff were on a school trip in Spain when the outage hit, and are expected to remain in the country for at least another day. The students from The Cathedral School, in Llandaff, Cardiff, went to the airport in Madrid on Monday to find their flight had been cancelled. The school has since confirmed that the students, along with their teachers were affected by the 'unforeseen' circumstances' in Spain. However, the school confirmed that they are in regular contact with the students, who are being looked after by the school's "wonderful" teaching staff. It added that the school is currently liaising with the relevant authorities in the outage hit country to ensure the students' "safe and quick return." It is expected that the students will reach back to Wales by Wednesday. Never miss a Cardiff story by signing up to our daily newsletter here Article continues below A spokesperson for The Cathedral School, Llandaff said: "A group of pupils and staff from The Cathedral School have been affected by the unforeseen circumstances in Spain whilst on a school trip. "We are in regular contact with the group and the pupils are being looked after by our wonderful teaching staff. "We are working with the relevant organisations in Spain to ensure their safe and quick return home and expect all of the group to be back by Wednesday." The UK government, which regularly issues travel advisories to people travelling abroad has said that the power outages in Spain have largely been "resolved", but warned that "some disruptions remain." The full advisory reads: "Power outages which affected Andorra, mainland Spain and mainland Portugal on Monday 28 April have largely been resolved but some disruption remains. "We are monitoring the situation. There may still be some travel disruption, check with your tour operator or airline for more information before travelling. Follow the advice of the local authorities and monitor local updates." As the power outage hit Spain yesterday, WalesOnline spoke to a Welsh family who were also left stranded in the Spanish city of Santander when the power outage hit the country. Describing the situation in Spain at the time the power outage hit Seren Thomas, 21, from Pontllanfraith, said: "It was insane, there were people everywhere; shop owners, school children. And traffic too, so many cars and because the lights had stopped it was chaos. Everyone was scrambling to get a bus and they were heaving. "It was really good when the police came and started to control the traffic. However, everyone was so lovely and helpful when we asked what was going on. At first we didn't believe them when they said the whole of Spain had a power cut." The cause of these power outages that Spain remained a mystery throughout yesterday, but now the countries are focussing on finding answers. Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sanchez said on Tuesday that his government has two priorities: restoring Spain's electrical system and finding the causes of the blackout so that a similar event "never takes place again." While Spain's electricity operator Red Red Eléctrica said that the demand in the peninsular electrical system was "normalised" at 11.15 am local time, the Portuguese grid operator REN has announced that all 89 power substations have come back online and power has been restored to all 6.4 million customers. Article continues below
Wales Online
28-04-2025
- Wales Online
Welsh family stuck in Spain during power cuts describe 'insane' situation
Welsh family stuck in Spain during power cuts describe 'insane' situation Two of them had travelled to meet their brother in Spain Seren (left), Calen (middle), and Finn (right) were on their first trip abroad together when the outage hit (Image: Seren Thomas ) Three Welsh siblings have described their experience of being in Spain when a nationwide power outage suddenly hit the country. Spain has since declared a national emergency after Monday's power outage impacted flights, subway systems and payment systems. This led to airports and hospitals shutting down and trains coming to a halt, while parts of Portugal and France were affected too. Though the Spanish electricity grid operator has said that nearly half the expected demand has been restored, disruptions still remain. Sister and brothers, Seren Thomas, 21, Calen Thomas, 19, and Finn Thomas, 17, from Pontllanfraith, were on their first sibling only trip to the Spanish city of Santander, when the outage hit. Both Seren and Finn had come to visit their brother Calen in Spain, who has been undertaking a gap year in the country. People queuing outside a bus in Santander (Image: Seren Thomas ) Calen said: 'I've been doing a gap year in Santander working with a church and charity. We had the opportunity for my siblings to come and visit me, so I decided to take a week of to stay in an Air B&B in Santander. So this is the first time we have been away as siblings together.' The trio were trying to add some money into their bus cards when the outage hit. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here Article continues below Finn explained: 'We were in a shop trying to add some money to our bus card when suddenly the lights went out. At first we thought it was just that shop until we walked down the road and noticed multiple shops were out. 'We asked some people what was going on because we had started to notice the amount of people around. We found out that the power was cut to lots of Spain.' Seren described the atmosphere in Santander as 'insane' but added that everyone was lovely in the Spanish city. She said: 'It was insane, there were people everywhere; shop owners, school children. And traffic too, so many cars and because the lights had stopped it was chaos. Everyone was scrambling to get a bus and they were heaving. 'It was really good when the police came and started to control the traffic. However, everyone was so lovely and helpful when we asked what was going on. At first we didn't believe them when they said the whole of Spain had a power cut.' An empty road in Santander following the power cut (Image: Seren Thomas ) Fortunately for the Siblings, Calum had been in the city for a while which helped them get through the situation better. Calum said: 'I have been living out here the past couple of months. I have got lots of friends and I am familiar with the city which really helped us navigate the situation. However there were more people in the city than I've ever seen. 'Seeing the amount of people, we knew we wanted to get out of the city unsure what a national power outage could lead to. So we went to the beach and in true Welsh style decided that we were going to make the most of the situation and got a sun tan!' The youngest in the group, Finn said that due the connectivity issues, it was hard getting a word out to their parents, which caused some concern. He said: 'For a large portion of the day the Internet was down so we were unable to contact anyone from home. As it stands, [we have] connection but still we still have issues. 'Our parents expressed concern about our flights being affected and initially concerned when we were in the middle of the city. Thankfully Santander is a really safe city.' The siblings are glad to have each other (Image: Seren Thomas ) Concerns still remains about the siblings' flights though, which are still a few days away. Seren said: 'We don't know anything about our flights as of yet. They are in a couple of days but we expect potential delays. We are hoping that everything will be sorted out by the time we are ready to fly.' However, the ordeal has made the siblings miss Wales even on a holiday. Calum said: 'We absolutely miss Wales, especially me as I've been out here for the past couple of months. I especially miss fish and chips as well as my friends and family. I'm really pleased my siblings were here with me for a day like today.' Finn too, was glad that he was with his brother and sister when it happened, he said: 'I'm so pleased I'm here with my siblings. Since data was down it was good to be with people I know rather than in a crowd of people who don't speak English.' Article continues below
