Lights out in Barcelona

A large-scale power outage hit one of Spain’s largest cities on Monday, leaving businesses and homes, hospitals and public transportation with no lights, no electricity and not much action.

A total of 350,00 customers of Fecsa-Endesa, the company supplying most of the power in Barcelona were left with no access to electricity. The company reported that by late Tuesday night, 50,000 customers were still in the dark.

Emergency crews were notified of large numbers of people who were stuck in elevators and police were kept busy on the streets directing traffic.

Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain and attracts large number of tourists every year with its reputation as a European and cosmopolitan city. The recent problem is an embarrassment to many.

“How are we going to fight to bring international fairs and other events to Barcelona with a situation like this?” Barcelona Hotel Association president Jordi Clos asked.

While the airport was not affected by the power outage, most hotels were. Larger hotels relied on back-up generators to keep the lights on while smaller hotels had to make do in the dark. One nursing home was forced to pay $4,150 to rent a generator from another province because none were available in Barcelona.

Tourists visiting the city’s signature landmark, the Sagrada Familia church, were not able to use elevators to ascend the church’s towers, but that didn’t keep them away.

Two power companies are responsible for the power outage: Fecsa-Endesa and Red Electrica de Espana. Officials in Barcelona are outraged over the outage and are demanding repairs and compensation as soon as possible. The outage occurred because a substation cable fell, causing six other substations to fail and a fire to break out in a seventh.