Spain’s blackout lasted for less than a day, and its people’s lives came to a standstill. It made me realise how much of our modern life relies on electricity, and I wondered what we would do without it. But some people don’t have to.
On Monday, 28 April 2025 at 12:33pm, I was teaching English online to a man from Zaragoza, Spain and suddenly the connection dropped. I did some basic troubleshooting and concluded it wasn’t on my end. A few minutes later, he re-joined from his phone, with his head in the fuse box. At that point, we assumed it was just his neighbourhood, and we agreed to rearrange the call for the following day. Shortly after, I received a notification from Euronews telling me that the Iberian Peninsula was experiencing a power outage and the entire nation was without electricity (as well as parts of Portugal and France). Fortunately, the power returned by the next day so that Jose and I could finish our session. But, I thought, ‘what if it didn’t?’.
Like the UK, every person living in Spain has access to electricity. Our increasingly complex modern existence requires it for everyday life. Think about it. I use it to preserve my food, to cook with, to shower, to wash clothes, to stay warm. We use our phones for EVERYTHING, like contactless payments, and they must be kept charged. One of my students living in Portugal didn’t have any cash and couldn’t pay for food at the supermarket. Another from Seville didn’t have running water in his flat because the pressure pump requires power. Luckily, he had 30 euros in cash to buy water from the only nearby supermarket that hadn’t closed. It sounds dramatic and had the blackout lasted longer, obviously they would have found ways to manage.
However, let this incident serve as a stark reminder that electricity is indeed a privilege. According to Statista, only 8.4% of South Sudan’s population has access to power. There are a number of other countries, most on the African continent, whose numbers aren’t far behind. I know that life without it is possible, and perhaps more in touch with nature. Nevertheless, let us be grateful for the opportunities that connectivity creates, and the convenience afforded by appliances like the humble washing machine. Handwashing is no easy task.
Other than your phone, what appliance could you NOT live without?
Folk & Fauna 
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