Spain and Portugal blackouts latest: Power cuts not caused by cyber attack, Spanish grid says – but investigation launched by judge | World News

Ashna Hurynag has just been reporting from live from the centre of Madrid.

She said: “All in all, things are getting back to normal – ish.”

Hurynag described how there were still some transport delays today in Spain, particularly in rural areas.

Yesterday, though, she explained how the commuting chaos was far worse.

Passengers had to get off trains and use the torches on their phones to walk to safety along the tracks.

And at airports in Madrid, there were enormous queues.

“People were snaking around the taxi ranks in Madrid,” Hurynag said.

“Taxis were having to ration their fuel, and they were limited in the number of card payments they could take.”

“When reliant on cash, customers could only take out so much because the ATMs weren’t working. 

“We passed one ATM that simply had a blank screen.”

The power cuts were a shock for people in the 21st century used to constant connectivity, she said.

Hurynag added: “We’re so used to people attached to their devices, attached to some form of connectivity. 

“People were using battery-powered radios, bringing them out, playing them at full volume, so everyone could be part of getting that shared information.

“We’ve also seen people turning their car radios to full volume.”

She finished by describing the outages as a “truly unprecedented event”.

The live stream of her walkabout in the city’s Plaza Mayor has now finished. But you can watch it back below.