blackout

Why many have felt more released than ever during the great blackout

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In Madrid, during the longest hours of the blackout, Andrés had a “rare” sensation similar to that of the pandemic, as of the world arrested, of much slower time, of silence. In Malaga and without radio at home, Matías thought it was something local and began to water the plants. They were two hours of absolute inner peace. In Ciudad Real, if data or portable, Alex sat with his dog to enjoy the breeze that entered the window. And it was not the outside world. It could not be: in the houses there was the same usual noise, the streets were more full than normal, the universe continued to turn. What was happening? Peace in a world in ruins. Because that is the first thing that comes to mind: the paradox that in seemingly negative (or even tragic) situations such as blackouts, The pandemics Or external events of this type, people experience a rare sensation of peace, liberation or decompression. However, psychologists, sociologists and anthropologists make it clear that the paradox is only apparent. Actually, we are so accustomed to living in lives full of labor commitments, studies, social activities; lives immersed in a constant information flow … that such an event disrupts us deeply. Or, rather, it destabilizes us: as experts in behavioral activation therapies tell us, our day’s activities are as emotional anchors. Without them, we are much more susceptible to external incidents; whether positive or negative. The surprise, of course, is that they are sometimes positive. We could study it with great detail during the pandemic. For example, a group of researchers from the University of Cambridge They discovered that one in three young people had felt happier during the confinements. But he did not reduce them: it’s something, in fact, We find surprising frequency. But … why? It has theorized a lot about why (less social and academic stress: less loneliness, absence of bullying, more hours of sleep or more physical exercise during confinement …), but they all end up in the same place. To the elimination of the aversive elements of everyday life and the increase in pleasant activities, something else adds: the absence of responsibility. That is the key piece that allows to accept inactivity with less resistance. It is not free that among the health, for example, this type of phenomena were less frequent during pandemic (even when they were sick). The feeling of guilt or responsibility did not disappear and, in fact, it became a problem. What leads us to a question … What if the problematic is normal? In 1922, Dorothy Thomas realized a very curious detail: Unlike what we might think, mortality seemed to follow a “procyclical” pattern. That is, as the economy goes better, more people die. It is so. It is something we have seen one and again: The last great Spanish crisis is a good example. The evidence is solid: economic growth has as a direct consequence that people die more. As explained in the Silesia collective“There is something in the political-economic system of capital circulation and goods that, when accelerating, destroys the health of populations.” We do not usually repair them (because the benefits are high and because economic crises are not “good for health”) but it is so. Can something similar happen to mental health? It is a plausible hypothesis. As we explained a few weeks ago, ‘tiredness’ has become something ubiquitous in our societies. Practically half of the working population or they feel high levels of stress or have suffered burnout. We have built some social environments where a hyperproductivity centered lifestyle prevails (Toxic productivity), multitasking and permanent overload; where “feel the pressure of being productive at every moment of the day – always a list of slopes and guilt for not fulfilling it -” has become the new normality. And in a source anxiety, insomnia and extreme exhaustion. Losing all that can be a way to recover everything else. In fact, what they have demonstrated again these twelve hours of darkness is that, For many people, it is. But it also demonstrates the difficulty we have to ‘take control’ of our own life imbued as we are in increasingly complex socio-economic systems: only a historical event seems to give ourselves to recover it. Image | Own elaboration In Xataka | Bottle, improvised meetings and auditoriums: the blackout, in addition to chaos, brought an unexpected festive atmosphere

Two Spanish preppers tell us how they lived yesterday’s great blackout

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Five seconds. It is what was needed to 60% of Spain’s energy vanished This April 28. At 12:33 in the morning 15 GW of generation were lost in the system, causing a total blackout that caught many without the necessary elements To face an absolute disconnection situation in which the radio was the only window to the information. But there are those who did not spend the dark night or eating food remains of the refrigerator. They are people who have gone preparing for this type of situation And they tell us how they lived it, their tricks and that everything were jokes in their surroundings until they had to ask for a flashlight to spend the night. “What happened yesterday cannot happen again. And he can never happen again,” I commented Pedro Sánchez, president of Spain, at the press conference on April 29. Little by little it comes to light Information about the blackout that left us from those 12:33 on Monday, without electricity on the peninsula and without mobile data to communicate. To the afternoon lake, the system, Thanks to emergency servicesbegan to relive little by little, but this is something that forces us to review something as fundamental as, it can be, undervalued: The weak points of the Spanish Electric Red. Now, not only authorities must act: citizens also have something to say thanks to preparation. But, of course, The idea of ​​giving supplies And to prepare a survival kit does not appear in our mind from one day to another without something that triggers that idea. Miguel Morales is one of those people who have a series of elements at home so it can happen. “He gave me by because, after Covid, it became clear that the difference between a critical situation and a house holiday was just how you were prepared,” he tells us. Isra Fernándezpartner of Applesferais another one of those preparations for whatever comes. In his case, that spark to start creating his kit was very previous. “I’ve always been a bit ‘tarado’ with this ‘, but maybe … the 11S. He caught me out of the institute and touched my head. Then, my friends and I were always with” And if one day something happened like in ’28 days later’? ” As clarification, ‘28 days later‘It’s a zombie apocalypse movie. But although he September 11, 2001 I could turn on that spark, as in the case of Miguel, the Covid was the climax. “We supplied and could help neighbors and friends,” Isra tells us. It had gas camping, canned food, survival rations and thirty liters of water. I told myself “If you have to go, I’m here prepared” During that period, “there were people who had a really bad and others who until well” thanks to those supplies they had at home, Complete Miguel. But … what supplies? In the case of a pandemic, non -perishable foods, many in can to make homemade hornos, are “The most useful thing you can have”he tells us. And, before a blackout like yesterday, the trick was to pull batteries. “I have two batteries and both were used yesterday. Isra comments that it has 50 AA and 50 AAA batteries, and both mention the radio. Whether batteries or crank, became something essential. “Although at the beginning it was limited to reading Red Eléctrica tweets, when the coverage fell were quite key to remain informed,” says Miguel. Apart from being able to charge with sunlight, these flashlights provide a good atmosphere inside the house | Photo by Miguel Morales Isra points out that, where appropriate, it is not batteries, but of crank. Thus it does not depend on batteries and its model (this) It is loaded by kinetic energy, solar or by power to feed a 10,000 mAh battery that, in addition to the point of light, serves as a charger. It also has AM/FM radio and compass. Isra’s flashlight Within that preparation, a very important point is food. Again: not so much for events that last a few hours, such as the blackout, but for others that can be expanded months or even weeks. Isra details an absolute arsenal of food, composed of four drums of water, honeyboats, peanut cream and 10 kg of powdered milk, as well as 20 legumes and fruit cans in syrup, stating that “the ideal would be to have about 100, mainly peas, chickpeas and food with vegetable protein.” Not everything is technology: there are also candles | Photo by Miguel Morales The Gas Camping is also a good idea because there are very compact equipment that allows you to heat food in this type of situations, but they are also interesting to use from time to time for certain dishes if in your kitchen you have hobbles or induction. And Miguel tells us that he spent the day with three types of food: meals prepared in can, instant noodles and fruit. Now, How do you collect that amount of cans? “During the last six months, in each purchase I have included long -lasting products. So I have not had to make a fat purchase and I have distributed the expense,” says Miguel. Of course, not everything is to have the material and there are a series of tricks to spend the day as well as possible in these situations. Sunflower oil, for example, does not work only for cooking, but to use fuel in the gas campsite if a blackout is dilated too much and you run out of gas. Canned cans not only serve to save foodbut to make homemade hornillos. Isopropyl water and alcohol garages | Photo by Miguel Morales On the flashlights, Miguel states that beyond those of focus, those that have a wide beam are more helpful to create atmosphere in a room than those that have the directed beam and there is another factor: the blackout may be or what makes us dust off the emergency kit does not catch us at home and … Read more

Without traffic lights for the blackout, Spain lived a real libertarian experiment of mobility. And it went quite well

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And at 12:32 p.m. on April 28, 2025, Spain went black. We knew almost immediately when connections with our partners were cut of work. Computers with the Black screentrains stopped in the tunnels, frozen elevators between plants and on the street … on the street a normal life. More or less. Because beyond the tails in the Mercadona and the children running and shouting through the courtyard of school at abnormally late hours, traffic more or less flowed. No available trainsthe passengers jumped to shot traffic. In private cars, in public buses and making horsetop. More or less, at greater or lesser speed, Traffic continued flowing. Yes, we have seen that in the center of the big cities such as Madrid or Barcelona, ​​the main roads soon getting stuck. But it is also true that traffic worked with relative calm there in many other parts. It was the confirmation that traffic can flow if we put a little all on our part. And it is the confirmation of why there are those who design cross -free crossings. Traffic lights in Granada on April 28, 2025 during the national blackout A little please On March 17, 1926, almost 100 years ago, Madrid installed the first traffic light in Spain. He arrived to make “a more rational use of private cars and generally favor that of public transport, in addition to making citizen coexistence more pleasant and contributing to a greater and safer use of the street for pedestrians”, as read on municipal sides of the time. Who was going to tell us that almost a century later, the radio would concatenate connections by Spanish cities in which the return of the light to the traffic lights of the street was celebrated. It was enough to hit the ear to the transistor to feel some relief in the voice of the reporters who finally pointed out that the light had returned to the traffic lights. With the traffic lights it seemed to return normality. That red light that prohibits the passage to whoever crosses my path and leaves me free. That amber light that warns me of danger but It seems that it only shouts that accelerates. But what if normality remained without traffic lights? It is what happened in most of the country. Without lights to regulate traffic, cordiality, negotiation was imposed and we did not have to regret serious incidents. The supposed anarchy never became such and putting all on our part took control of the streets. “We install traffic lights to promote fluidity and increase speed, against negotiation and In many cases we do the opposite“The words were expressed by Román Torre, a member of the XIXONÉS OF MOBILITY and author of various articles related to mobility in cities. On your tweetreferred to a crossing in which it is observed how vehicles circulate with total fluidity. Of course, it is not a crossing with the volume of traffic that we can find in the North Zone of Madrid which, everything is said, It usually stuck with and without traffic lights. And, in fact, the tower itself indicates at the end of the thread that it is a solution “that is not worth all sites.” Click on the image to go to the original tweet However, the video does show that on many occasions the fluidity of the traffic is guaranteed without traffic lights. And, the best thing is that it is not only guaranteed, it is also a safer solution. If there are no lights, the driver is obliged to reduce the speed when approaching a crossing because he does not have the traffic light safety network guaranteeing a free track. At lower speed, a possible clash is more unlikely, it would have lower consequences and, in addition, the possibility of an outrage are reduced. The DGT contemplates How to act at intersections without priority of passage But just watch a video recorded yesterday to check how the negotiation It is imposed to give way to each car little by little, Without slowing traffic. It is something that has been studied and applied in the Netherlands. An example is that of Alexanderplein in the center of Amsterdam. There, after various studiesit was decided to eliminate traffic lights and found that despite living cyclists and trams, traffic fluidity is better than without the lights that supposedly manage traffic. The secret is to observe the rest of the traffic agents. Something similar is what is applied in Groningen where the maximum has applied for years “All green” for cyclists at 29 intersections of the city. Fully closing traffic to cars for a few seconds, it was found that if bicycles are allowed to circulate total freedom (a similar experience to do it without traffic lights) traffic is more fluid. One of the reasons is undoubtedly low speed that circulates that facilitates making decisions in very little space and, therefore, fluidity when taking one or another way. That controlled chaos is possible thanks to the fact that we move “As we would behave if we were pedestrians”, In Ford words. The company presented some time ago a solution to take advantage of communication between vehicles to eliminate traffic lights and, with them, unnecessary waiting. Without lights regulating traffic, ensures that autonomous cars They can move with total tranquility Because they reduce speed when they reach intersections and movements are safer. The point is that what humans live yesterday. Torre explains in Migijón That the absence of lights causes drivers to take the initiative when crossing the intersection instead of “obeying” the green or red light. This prevents trumpeting with a stop, an acceleration and a new detention on the next street. Obviously, without traffic lights, the car stops but applying some negotiation between drivers, the arrests are much shorter as it can be seen in their videos. Much of the secret is in that reduction in speed when approaching the intersection. No traffic light, the driver must circulate more slowly and … Read more

And suddenly, a great battery and the Sun of Murcia saved me from the great blackout

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After a crisis, a couple of disturbing war conflicts, Trump’s second mandate And a worldwide pandemic, The biggest blackout in Spain I shouldn’t have caused me so much concern. But at home, at three o’clock at the beginning and with the children newcomers of the school, his nervousness was very evident. And ours. No electricity grid for almost 12 hours And disconnected from the world almost the same hours except for the blessed radio to batteries, at home the tranquility for the tense and indefinite wait came to us in the most unexpected way: the radiant sun of Murcia and some test batteries in Xataka. This is the story of how some Solar panels connected to a large battery The great blackout of Spain mitigated at home. The reality that everything works with electricity The entrance/exit door of the work center, which we usually opened through an application installed on the mobile, only paid attention to our need to exit urgently when the concierge, analog key in hand, opened it and threw from it under the almost 30 degrees of two in the afternoon in Murcia. At the end of April. “Googlear” if the suppliers of the service stations need food to work, something that would have taken me 10 seconds at another time, was the beginning of many hours of energy uncertainty whose solution did not remember that I had at home On the way by car home, with the deposit near the reserve and without knowing for sure if the suppliers need food to function – or possibility of Googlear the answer to my doubt – the radio was the only point of connection with the real situation. Because the theories about what was happening did not take 10 seconds to run from Boca by ear and another ear … Suddenly, everyone had spoken with a family member abroad who confirmed without any doubt that it was a European issue. What European, world. An “makeshift” installation of solar panels on the home terrace With the few news that I could hear about what was happening I got home. The atmosphere was very similar to that of pandemic, with uncertainty dominating everything. And the feeling of living too many things for the first time. The noon food had to improvise according to very clear criteria: use the perishable of a refrigerator that we did not know when it would be operational and resort to gas barbecue. Yes, the induction cuisine does not get along with the lack of electricity. Already with the serenity that gives the stomach well attended, as a game to calm the kids, we analyze the situation at home and draw a plan for the afternoon. We are looking for lanterns, laptops, “powerbanks” and any device that could be charged. The smartphones and tablets between them. To do so we had an immense, literally, allied at home: some ecoflow batteries tested in Xataka. Time to recharge everything rechargeable. And cook the “cooking” With the internal load of the batteries, a main of 4,000 mAh and an assistant of the same capacity, almost 80%, the four plugs and four USB ports (two of type C and two of type a) they began to recharge everything that we found at home. Including the batteries that we already know that they must be in every emergency kit that boasts. Without the possibility of loading of any kind, the solar batteries of the house offered a recharge point to family and friends who requested it The objective was that, if the situation was extended until night, we could have operational devices And of course Lights ready so that, at least at home, the situation was the most similar normality. Batteries, camping and reading/leisure lights for the long wait Since it was still the beginning of the afternoon in Murcia, the batteries continued to recharge to the usual rhythm in their “rush hour”, about 1,000-1.200 W per hour. One of the great advantages of these Ecoflow batteries for recharge is that they can be feed both from the electricity and connected directly to solar panels. The radio we were about to “recycle” last summer We take advantage of this situation of energy surplus for both less important issues and relax with a fresh coffee and to use certain thermomix type appliances, the microwave or a small electric oven. Everything we could take advantage of that solar energy seemed to us a good idea at that time. Things of situations that are first lived. Mobile of friends and family who lived near them were recharged with our house battery We also rejoice at home of having stored an old analog radio because, without data or functional telephone, it was our only source of reliable information. The great blackout was not this time through streets. No neighborhoods. Not even in cities. But the most alarming was that the duration of it was a great unknown. So the very few moments of connectivity allowed us Offer our batteries to family and friends They lived close to recharge their mobile phones. And without sun, the batteries take control of the house With the different official information about everything that happened arriving via radio but on droppers, the sunset reached us at home with the unknown about what would take the electricity grid of our Murcia area to be operational. So without a sun, it was time to start squeezing the Energy stored throughout the day until it exhausts her. At night, the solar battery was ready to use the stored energy and feed the refrigerator for hours and thereby save food for a very valuable time The system that we have ecoflow proof does not allow energy injection to the home network itself if it is not connected to the general. But his poOutput tenance of up to 4000 W gives us the possibility to use powerful appliances in a timely manner, as we did with the water tank or microwave. At night, in … Read more

The six basic technologies that we recommend for your own “survival kit” before a blackout

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On March 26, the European Commissioner for Crisis Preparation and Management shared a video in which he detailed the elements that should include A Survival Kit. Yesterday, March 28, there was something unusual in Spain: A blackout that paralyzed the country. 60% of all the energy of the country fell spuided in a few seconds And, although security systems They went into actionit was not well into the night when the light, coverage and tranquility made their way through the Peninsula again. And what accompanied us in moments of loneliness and darkness were the technologies of the twentieth century that we thought surpassed. Twentieth century technologies to the rescue of the blackout In it Preparation Kitthe European commissioner explained that we had to have elements such as the identity document, cash, a flashlight, a lighter, a razor, a power bank, a radio, water and some food. The idea is to be able to survive for 72 hours with them, but although it is complicated (or that we hope) that a blackout like this Monday is repeated again, the truth is that it is not so bad idea to have a kit of this style at home. The reason? They were technologies that we believed obsolete those that helped us many during the night And, eye, during meals. There are elements of the EU kit that would help us little in this situation, but beyond that ‘backpack’, it would be interesting to have another preparation with certain basic elements for a blackout, last a few hours or paralize a country, like yesterday. Our recommendation would be as follows: Batteries – A basic. When it was confirmed that the situation was going for long, you could see tails in Chinese hardware stores and bazaars to get this type of batteries. They came to see posters warning about the availability of batteries in some shops and it is evident that they became an indispensable element for many to rescue another object they had in the drawer. Have a Pilas package At home it is not a bad idea and also They can be rechargeable Whenever we have the forecast to leave them loaded in case anything happens. Photo | Andrés Mohorte, Xataka Flashlights – The ideal companions of the batteries. It is ‘easy’ to have a flashlight at home, but it is also likely that many do not even know where it is. Have one flashlightand not only by drums, it is a good idea in these situations, but there are variants. For example, round light points based on a surface. Also what I used in my house: LED bulbs What use for photography, but that they go with His own batteriesThey last hours and give a lot of light even at the lowest level. Radio – The element that accompanied many yesterday. A small radio That it works better than with battery, since it will not consume resources of a Power Bank that we can use on the mobile and other elements. And it is something that reflected a lack that important mobiles have. You can go to the mobile looking for a radio app and you will find that, in their vast majority, they no longer have radio. Some old ones that we had at home may include it, but after this, and even if it will only be used once or twice in life, it is clear that manufacturers They should not cut something like that. Gas Camping – Those three elements are the basics that EU recommends and allow us to be informed and enlightened, but … What happens to food? The ‘vitro’ and the induction system became useless, but if you do not have a butane or gas kitchen, perhaps it would be interesting to have a gas camping system. Yes, it sounds like a spectacular pot, but there are kits that, With a ridiculous size And good design, allow us to save it in a ridiculous space and be prepared to cook during a blackout. You have to buy some gas bottlesOf course, but the whole occupies little space and is useful even to cook certain dishes at home even if you have light. And a lighter or matches is not a bad idea either. Stoves – This blackout has caught us with temperatures that exceed 20º in many parts of the Peninsula, but a conversation I had was “less bad that it did not catch us in the middle of winter.” If we have butane or propane, there are heaters that occupy little and connect directly to the bottle. But there is also small heater Like the gas campsing that are more autonomous by not needing a bottle to work. SAI / Power Bank – Have one, or several, Power Bank At home it is not a bad idea. Not before a blackout, but before any type of long trip. Have some small ones for the mobile and A bigger And powerful that, even, I can feed a laptop or simply have more capacity to load mobiles, it is a good idea. And, if you work at home, maybe something like a SAI (Uninterrupted feeding system) It is not a bad idea. It’s like a giant power bank that gives you the option to safely turn off your PC and There are models With USB that allow us to load many devices thanks to both their capacity and its power. Having these elements is something that makes us more enjoyable those hours of blackout. And it seems a lie, but I, who had not turned to the radio for years, I was glad when I could start an old mobile with FM radio. And I also had many batteries at home, but nothing useful in introducing them. Lesson learned. Princincop image | Ricardo Aguilar In Xataka | After the blackout, Adif has a problem on its ways: three “lost” trains in remote states of the network

Having solar panels at home sounds very good in case of national blackout. The problem is that they don’t work

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The national blackout that Spain has suffered It has been historicalbut has also sown the doubt. While the vast majority of citizens ran out of light, in the street there was “life” in some supermarkets or marques that made the use of other renewable alternatives. Surely also, today more than ever many will ask about the need to have a solar installation in their home, which leads us to another question: how does a network of domestic panels work before a national blackout? Installation in normal conditions. Before talking about the case of a blackout as the one that occurred in Spain, it is convenient to explain the most basic of A “standard” installation In a typical home. In most cases, solar panels capture the radiation of the sun and generate what we call DC (DC). This current passes through an investor that converts it in turn in alternating current (CA), and that is precisely what we use in homes. In Spain and in almost all countries, most solar facilities are connected to the electricity network (known systems as on-Grid). This allows, on the one hand, to consume solar energy directly in the house. On the other, pour the surplus to the network (which entitles economic compensation, such as the net balance or Simplified compensation). Finally, of course, it allows you to receive electricity from the network when there is not enough solar generation (for example, at night or on cloudy days). The problem occurs when there is a situation like that occurred yesterday. Installation in blackouts. When you have a photovoltaic installation in the house of only panels and there is a blackout, something contradictory but very important happens: even if you have solar panels working, the sky is sunny and the beginning of the day, your house is also It is left without electricity. As? Yes, this occurs by security regulations (for example, in Europe under the standard VDE 0126-1-1 and similar), all solar investors connected to the network must detect the loss of tension and turn off immediately, is what is called Anti-Isla protection. The reason? The reason for this “cut” is to protect network maintenance technicians: if there were thousands of houses by sending electricity to a supposedly “dead” network, it could be lethal for workers They are at that time repairing the failure. Therefore, if you have only solar panels connected to the network, you cannot use electricity during a blackout. Your solar panels are automatically disconnected. There is no more. The solution: batteries. If you also have batteries, the thing changes, although here the situation varies depending on the type of investor and configuration you have. If you have hybrid investors (solar + battery), there are modern investors that already allow to continue operating in what is called Island or back-up mode. This means that when they detect a blackout, they are physically disconnected from the network and come to feed only your house using solar energy and energy stored in your batteries. In addition, there are also systems for backup investors (The so-called back-up inverters), where a separate system is used that can feed a specific part of the house (for example, fridge, essential lights or internet). One More Thing. But even so, for this to work you need lithium or lead batteries properly sizeda hybrid investor compatible with operation in island mode or an inverter with backup function (Back-UP), a automatic cutting system that separates your home from the public network in case of blackout guaranteeing safety, and finally an electrical panel prepared to isolate non-essential loads (for example, it makes no sense to keep the electric oven or air conditioning on if the energy is limited). In any case and to place all this in perspective in the Spanish landscape, only 33% of facilities Current domestic lots in Spain include batteries. This means that most households with solar panels would continue to suffer electric cuts during a blackout like the one that occurred yesterday. The reasons are very varied, but the extra cost of investment of them after the solar installation (already large) is key. The promise of self -supply. All this leads to a final question: Is it possible to be self -sufficient (energetically) in Spain? The short response is no. The promise of solar self -supply on the peninsula is based on taking advantage of the high solar radiation (Spain receives on average between 1,600 and 2,000 kWh/m²/year) to generate clean energy and reduce dependence on the electricity grid, especially in single -family homes. Thanks to photovoltaic self -consumption and the Price drop Of the solar panels (more than 80% have fallen in the last decade), today it is technically possible to cover between 60% and 80% of the annual consumption of an average house in Spain only with solar energy, and in some cases, almost 100% If appropriate storage batteries are installed (although with the network hitch). The problem. However, self -supply has important limits: solar production is intermittent (there is no generation of night and lowers a lot in winter or cloudy days), the batteries remain expensive (between 4,000 and 9,000 euros a complete domestic installation) and its capacity only allows a few hours or days of autonomy without network. Plus: We already said it, the current legislation requires that the systems connected to the network be disconnected in blackouts if they are not equipped to function in Isla mode, which implies that, without a specific design (and of large disbursement), even with solar panels, you could run out of electricity in general cuts. Image | Pxhere In Xataka | What is the “energy zero” and why the supply can go suddenly but it takes hours to recover In Xataka | Spain is dark: a general blackout has left us all without light

The blackout in Spain has demonstrated which is the ideal means to inform in a crisis: the radio

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In the minutes that followed the Broady in Spain and Portugal At 12:32 yesterday, millions of people They wondered The same: “What happened.” In other crises, television, newspapers and of course the Internet are the clear alternatives to find out what is happening, but yesterday that was not possible. Almost everything failed, but there was a means of communication that allowed us to keep us informed: the radio. Where is the FM radio of the mobiles. The fragility of our communications caused the radio to erect as a unique solution to keep us informed. The mobiles had support for FM radio years, but this feature has disappeared in all current models. In fact It went from being an extra desired to an exclusive function of cheaper models. Something older mobiles do have that function by connecting headphones (which bend as antenna), and that allowed those who still have any of those mobiles could be informed thanks to that functionat least while the mobile battery lasted. Some brands keep them in some models. Xiaomi is one of the manufacturers that still includes support for FM radio in some of its Redmi family models, but of course not all. He Xiaomi Redmi Note 14s or the Redmi 14c They are good examples. The normal thing is that in recent terminals we will not find that option, which we can enable in older mobiles (such as Little m5he Motorola G73 5g or the Samsung Galaxy M23 5g) and also in input range terminals and in less extended brands such as Doogee or Ulefone. Radio as informative lifeguards. Without light there was no television or wifi in houses and offices, and connect to the Internet It was an odyssey all day: Mobile lines, the only ones that could give a way out, worked irregularly … If they worked. And yet, the radio worked without apparent problems. Transistor to batteries. Meanwhile, those still kept a battery transistor at home could be informed thanks to the radio stations continued to broadcast during the blackout. These transistors became the salvation of many citizens, who either had radios in their homes or gathered in the streets around vehicles with analog radios or that could listen to the radio What other people had in the streets or on the terraces. They were also one of the products that They sold out more quickly in shops that remained active during the blackout. Why the stations continued to work. Augusto Molina and Héctor Zafra are respectively the technical director and the technical manager of the SER, and explained In a piece in this medium The way of proceeding in these emergency cases. The first thing they did was turn off monitors and all the teams that could be turned off to save to the fullest. That allowed maximizing the autonomy of emergency equipment that is used in these cases, and that were the key both in the SER chain and other stations. Electrogen equipment. These structure (motorogener) groups are machines that generate electricity through an internal combustion engine. They make use of fossil fuels (gasoline, diesel) and allow generating electricity while the fuel lasts. Are the teams that They are used in hospitals to maintain a good part of the essential services during this type of energy crisis. Several stations survived the blackout. National Radio of Spain kept for example emissions, such as They also did wave zero, the Cope chainthe aforementioned chain and other stations – although not all – and broadcasters who could continue to inform thanks to those emergency teams that were activated during the blackout. Radio as lifeguard in emergency situations. What happened yesterday has revealed the relevance of the radio as an ideal means of communication to emergencies. There have been numerous cases in the story in which that has become evident. In our country they stand out for example The coup d’etat of 23-F In Spain, in 11m or more recent attacks The Dana that ravaged the Valencian Community and that caused the majority of the electric laying. Transistors, both in one and another, allowed to remain informed. Image | Xataka In Xataka | Five annual pounds and a telephone line: how the electrophone, the “spotify” of the nineteenth century worked

In full blackout throughout Spain and confusion among the population, an alert system shone for its absence: Es-Alert

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Yesterday we attend an unprecedented event in our country. From one moment to another and in a matter of five seconds, 60% of all energy vanisheddisappeared. The entire peninsula ran out of light. The reasons are unknown how it was unknown in certain points of Spain that the blackout had been general. The light fell, ergo the wifi. Telecommunications, mobile networks fell, and networks were saturated. Contact family and friends to know if they were fine was an odyssey, as was accessing to the media and social networks to inform themselves of the last hour. No one knew what was happening, its reach, the reasons or the state of the situation. In such a context, it is worth asking what happened to Es-alertthe emergency alert system. Who is-alert depends on. The Civil Protection alerts system was launched on February 22, 2023 and serves to send notices to all mobile phones within an affected area. It is integrated into the national alert network and, therefore, is managed by the Ministry of Interior through the National Center for Emergency Monitoring and Coordination (CENEM) of the General Directorate of Civil Protection. Notice example received through the ES-Alert system | Image: mobile xataka This system is known as “112 inverse” and is available in “any part of the Spanish territory with mobile telephony coverage, either 2G (GSM), 3G (UMTS), 4G (LTE) or 5G”, as They explained from Moncloa The day of its launch. Civil protection, meanwhile, exposes that “the ES-ALErt system is available to the Emergency Coordination Centers of the Autonomous Communities in the framework of the National Civil Protection System” and that these centers, together with the aforementioned CENEM, are the “responsible, within their area of ​​competence, to define and issue the alerts when the situation requires it.” In a nutshell, that competition falls to the Autonomous Communities. What situations is used? According to Moncloa, Es-Alert is designed for phenomena such as “floods, fires, adverse meteorological phenomena, volcanic or chemical accidents, among other emergencies.” The question is what happens to this system when there is no electricity, when telecommunications are falling and a very high percentage of the population has no coverage. A mobile will not receive the notice if it has no coverage or is in plane mode, although it will do so when you recover the signal The networks worked (a time). The mobile network remained active for a while thanks, in part, emergency generators. VodafoneMasorange and Telefónica They have confirmed that although the blackout had affected telecommunications services and the mobile network, part of the system had supply thanks to electric generators and batteries. Es -Elert depends on that infrastructure to work, the question is whether it would have been effective. Lights and shadows. While it is true that Es-Alert is practically agnostic to the device and the version of the operating system, its effectiveness depends on the fact that there is electricity and that the receiving phones have coverage. Assuming that the ES-Alert system was available (because as we already know, there was no electricity supply), the reality is that an important thickness of the population would not have received the warning at the time because it did not have coverage. They would have received it when recovering the signal in the event that the emergency remained active in the area, but there is no guarantees that, by then, the notice would have been useful. Image | Fré Sonneveld Social networks. Public entities and organizations, which They urged the user to save battery and limit the use of mobilethey made their official communications through social networks such as X. Access not only to this social network, but to the media that echoed this information, it was not always possible due to the lack of coverage and mobile data network. The always eternal radio. The best informed citizen yesterday was the one who had a ancient operational radio thanks to two AA batteries. The radio works independently that there is coverage, mobile network or wifi. Emergency equipment They do not communicate by Walkie-Talkies By custom, but because in a fire in which everything has fallen, the radio will continue to function. If the broadcaster and the receiving device work, there is communication, and that is what happened precisely yesterday. The radios continued to function and counting the last hour of the blackout, which shows that an invention of the late nineteenth century is still important in the middle of 2025. Cover image | Pere Jury In Xataka | Cercanías, Media and Long Distance, High Speed ​​and Metro: This is the situation of trains in Spain after the blackout

Why the fall of telecommunications was so unequal during the blackout in Spain

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Spain plunged yesterday into a unprecedented energy blackout. A complete fall of the national electricity grid that caused problems in essential services and, above all … communications. A few hours after the Energy zero throughout All Spanish territoryoperators such as Vodafone Spain kept active 70% of their mobile network. The question is how. How the network was kept alive. Despite the national blackout, Some operators like Vodafone They made their mobile network remain active thanks to reserve generators. Although popular perception may be that the network connection is a purely wireless technology, it depends completely on telephone stations (what we commonly know as antennas), some that need electricity to function. Before scenarios such as yesterday, all protocols were activated to keep them alive despite the disconnection with the national electricity grid. This was achieved thanks to two main actors: backup batteries and structure. Diesel and batteries. Groups such as Masmobic confirm Xataka that this maintenance of the network infrastructure was achieved thanks to its reserve generators located in the stations themselves, but also to displaced electrogen groups to each area. In Spain, the Low voltage electrotechnical regulation (REBT) It demands support systems in critical infrastructure. Image | Vodafone The autonomy of these systems is limited and variable. That a station can be fed for more or less time depends on the state of the batteries, the capacity of the generators and the logistics of the fuel supply. In the best case, structures can keep the service for 24-48 hours. If we talk about reserve batteries, autonomy usually ranges between two and eight hours. This is the main reason why Some networks continued to work after the blackout and also for which others began to fail after a few hours. A progressive fall. Vodafone managed to exceed 70% activity in the network at 3:00 p.m., maintaining autonomy in its network, datacentes and systems control centers. As the hours were advancing, the figure fell. At 23: 00h, mobile traffic fell to 60% with 50% of active nodes. Reason? After more than ten hours of blackout, some of the reserve batteries began to run out. Why I had no coverage and my neighbor yes. During the blackout, access to the mobile network was (and remains) variable, and this is due to several factors. The main is the difference in backup feed systems (SAI or generators) that have mobile phone antennas. Not all base stations have the same capacity to continue working without electricity supply: some have batteries with little autonomy, other generators that require fuel (diesel or gas), and their availability and maintenance vary. In the same way, Not all operators use the same infrastructure. Each company has its own (or rented) towers and nodes, which means that two mobiles can be connected to different antennas even being in the same area. Thus, it is possible that the antenna of your operator has stopped working before, while that of your neighbor – with another operator – remains active longer. The small operators. Vodafone proved to live up to 70% of the coverage, but smaller companies, with fewer nodes to connect and lower capacity to supply energy, faced a more complex situation. The so -called virtual mobile operators (OMV) “As Digi, Finetwork, Pepephone, Lowi, etc.,” do not have their own infrastructure. Instead, they rent access to the networks of the greats (Movistar, Orange or Vodafone). The immediate translation is that its operation depends completely on the conditions of the wholesale operator in each area. If the antenna to which a user of a secondary operator connects does not have sufficient support, or if your host network prioritizes other services, the user runs out of coverage more quickly and for longer. How long would they last before chaos. Telecommunications networks can survive without electricity supply for a limited time, but are not designed to resist prolonged blackouts. In the best of the scenarios, with well -supplied structures and batteries in good condition, some stations could be kept operational between 24 and 48 hours. Beyond that threshold, everything depends on the operator’s logistics capacity to replenish fuel. In that scenario, the first to run out of coverage would be users connected to secondary nodes or small operators, while critical or priority areas (hospitals, security forces, command centers) could maintain connection for longer thanks to emergency protocols. Image | Telefónica In Xataka | Neither trains, nor light, nor computers: the most chaotic working day will not have salary sales or dismissals for not going to work

Normal, with solar load and crank. Five external batteries to have the mobile loaded during a blackout

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Behind him Mass blackout That we suffer yesterday throughout the Peninsula, it has become clear that it is convenient to have one or more PowerBank (or external batteries) at home so that at least I can have the mobile with drums. But … which one to choose? In this article we have gathered different external batteries that can be very useful at a time with which we live yesterday with a light cut of many hours. IPOSIBLE WITH SOLAR LOAD by 35.95 euros With coupon, an external battery with solar panels. ANKER LAPTOP by 99.99 eurosan external battery that allows recharging to laptops. Xiaomi Redmi Fast Charge Power Bank by 14.99 eurosa very cheap external battery that has a good load capacity. Wastde with solar load and crank by 59.99 eurosan external battery designed to use it at all times. Anker Zolo by 20.89 eurosan external pocket battery with 30W load. IPOSIBLE WITH SOLAR LOAD One of the most interesting proposals of this list is External Iposible batterywhich is at Amazon at a price of 39.95 euros, although selecting the store coupon stays in 35.95 euros. And it is interesting because its capacity of 26,800 mAh is recharged by solar load, so we can be ready even if we have no light. Comes with four waterproof solar panels that can be folded, includes several USB ports (both USB-C as USB-A and Microusb) and its construction offers water resistance, blows and dust. The brand mentions that the battery offers more than 1,600 load life cycles. * Some price may have changed from the last review ANKER LAPTOP On the other hand, if what we are looking for is an external battery that even allows us to recharge a laptop (useful if the light cut has caught us when we were working), the ANKER LAPTOP It can be a very good purchase option. Costs 99.99 euros in Amazon and is very complete. The Anker Laptop is an external battery that comes with a capacity of 25,000 mAh. Includes three USB-C ports and offers a loading power up to 100Wso you can recharge a good assortment of devices. In addition, it allows recharging up to four devices at once. * Some price may have changed from the last review Xiaomi Redmi Fast Charge Power Bank If what we are looking for is an external economic battery, but also very useful, the Xiaomi Redmi Fast Charge Power Bank Right now it costs 14.99 euros In the official store. In addition, it comes with a capacity of 20,000 mAh, offers a power of 18W. Xiaomi’s external battery comes with a couple of USB-A ports, a USB-C port and another microusb. It also has temperature protectionagainst the short circuits, against overcurrent and also against the overtheions. Xiaomi Redmi Fast Charge Power Bank * Some price may have changed from the last review Wastde with solar load and crank Another of the most interesting proposals of this list is the Wastde external batterywhich comes both with solar load and with a crank. Its price at Amazon is 59.99 euros and stands out mainly for these two reasons: it can be recharged through the solar load or using the crank (very useful for the night). In addition to this, it comes with three output cables (Lightning, USB-C and Microusb) and three output ports (two USB-A and a USB-C). It allows to recharge many devices at the same time, has a capacity of 26,800 mAh and includes a flashlight with three modes: SOS, strobe and continuous. Wastde with solar load and crank * Some price may have changed from the last review Anker Zolo If what we are looking for is an external pocket battery that occupies very little space, the Anker Zolo It can be a very good purchase option. It is located at a price at a price of 20.89 euros And it can be stored practically in any pocket, since its dimensions are approximately 119.9 x 73.4 x 31.4 mm. In addition to this, the external battery offers a 30W load powerincludes an integrated USB-C cable, its capacity is 10,000 mAh and can be recharged in a short time thanks to its 20W power. * Some price may have changed from the last review Some of the links of this article are affiliated and can report a benefit to Xataka. In case of non -availability, offers may vary. Images | IPOSIBLE, ANKER, XIAOMI, WASTDE In Xataka | What do you need (according to the EU) for your survival kit and how much can it cost you? In Xataka | Best Power Bank to load your mobile phone. Which to buy and recommended external batteries

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