In front of the Prado museum
We spent three days in Madrid to participate in the annual Marathon. The day before the race Francien and I visited the Museo National del Prado, Parque de El Retiro, Monumento al Descubrimiento de America, Monumento Cristóbal Colón and enjoyed strolling through the many wide Avenidas.
The finish of the Madrid Marathon in front of the Monumento Cristóbal Colón
On Sunday the pre-race anticipation buzzed in the early morning air. 45000 Runners stretched, adjusted gear, and gathered nervously at the start line, adrenaline coursing. Along the route, cheering spectators, signs, and live music created an uplifting, festival-like atmosphere. Francien and I finished once again a 10 km / 21.1 km road race. It was a fantastic event. Yea, we enjoyed the entire weekend, but things changed dramatically.
Alas, the next day we checked-out of our hotel and had lunch before going to the Atocha railway station to board our train back to Málaga.
‘Only salads, no credit card payments’, the waiter told us. ‘Pay with cash as much as you can, do not worry if you do not have enough’, he continued.
I could not believe him saying there was no electrical power in the entire country. We saw many people coming out of the buildings and walking on the streets, trying to get internet or phone connections. All the lights inside the buildings were out, air-conditioners and refrigerators stopped working. The traffic lights turned black and ATM machines couldn’t be used. People wandered around trying to find out what was happening. But nobody had any information. We decided to walk to Atocha and see if we could get on our train. We passed a closed Metro station, which reminded me of the shut underground stations in Kuala Lumpur during the corona pandemic lock-downs.
The entire train system in the country had come to a stand-still. At the train station thousands of people tried to get into the building. One woman shouted 'away with the government', but most people were calm, sitting on pavements, standing around or leaning against the walls. A dozen press reporters interviewed passengers. After one hour police evacuated all people in and around the station.
Police evacuated all passengers from the Atocha railway station and sealed it off.
The Spanish-TV interviewed stranded passengers
We then decided to get a place to stay overnight as we thought this could take a long time. We made our way back to the hotel we had stayed in the night before. Traffic became increasingly chaotic with police cars and emergency vehicles rushing around. I saw a woman listening to her portable transistor radio as she crossed the street. Did she receive any news updates? Police used walkie-talkies and the fire brigade satellite phones. Traffic police constantly blew their whistles with a piercing, shrill tone to get attention amid chaotic cars, busses, motorbikes and pedestrians darting in between, giving this constant sense of tension and urgency. Within a few hours, convenience stores set up tables on their pavements selling water and snacks. Some quickly sold out of batteries, food, candles and other utensils. Office workers frantically tried to stop taxis for a ride home. There were students standing in front of schools, tourist groups staring at closed museums, policemen looking bewildered, a helicopter flying overhead. But also people jogging on the street or drinking a beer on a terrasse as if all was normal. Late afternoon internet and telephone communications were restored, but we couldn’t use our mobile phones much as we were not able to charge the batteries. There were rumours spreading about a Russian cyber-attack, extreme solar activity affecting the entire Europe, or blaming the conversion to green energy for all this. People simply did not get any reliable information’s.
Luckily, we could get the last room available in the same hotel we had checked-out a few hours earlier. The friendly manager hung a written note on the front door ‘No rooms available’ and prepared to have the hotel locked as soon as darkness would set in. The elevator was out of service, so we carried our suitcases to the 5th floor. Soon this city of 7 million people turned indeed completely dark. With no TV, no hot water and no cooked food (we munched on dry cookies) Francien and I stayed safely inside our pitch-dark room. Fortunately, around midnight I woke up as all the lights turned on again. After 11 hours the power had finally been restored.
Next morning we walked again to the railway station to try and catch a train back home. On the streets all seemed normal, as if nothing had happened. Traffic was busier as the Metro was still not working, but people made their ways to their offices, restaurants, shops and museums were open again. Atocha had reopened and all we could find out was that the trains would resume their schedules gradually. People stood packed shoulder to shoulder trying to make their way to the ticket offices. Announcements echoed over loudspeakers, megaphones and loud screaming railway personnel. After a few hours one handheld megaphone replaced the entire departure screen of the largest train station in Spain! Families sat on luggage, children clung to parents, and commuters anxiously checked their mobile phones trying to get information’s. The railway personnel tried their best to help the people, but it was impossible to get the correct information’s as the situation was fluid. Dozens of police and security personnel tried to keep order, but they were clearly overwhelmed. Bottles with drinking water were handed out by the Red Cross. Some people cried, one elderly woman fainted and a few people needed some convincing by the police who had difficulty to control the crowds. I noticed more security personnel being deployed as people became increasingly tense.
That night the army had been called in to help 3000 stranded passengers to spent the night in front of the station. Those passengers needed to board the few available trains first, so we knew it would take a long time to get to our train.
The Metro system in Madrid shut down (picture from El Pais)
Security personnel tried to maintain order in the station. It all felt very claustrophobic
Francien is getting a bottle of water from one of the emergency helpers
In fact, it took us 6.5 hours. When we finally sat in our seats, we all felt relieved. We had enough time to read about this total ‘Blackout’ in Spain and Portugal: - El Gran Apagón -. Three hours later we safely arrived back in Málaga.
I realized how fragile our society is. We are totally depending on electricity power (not to forget water supply) which seemingly can be interrupted in a few seconds, holding all daily activities of millions of people. Yes you guessed it, Francien and I will purchase a 3-day emergency kit at home for any future calamities.
Seeing a city turning into a chaotic place in just a few hours as soon as the systems which enforce these are out of order, shows that our society needs clear rules and regulations at all times. Without them, chaos will erupt almost instantly. Freedom must come with restrictions and responsibilities.
Like I have also witnessed during the corona pandemic, people tend to help each other and are inventive and creative to overcome crisis’s. That makes me feel optimistic about so many uncertainties we are facing.