The next day I headed out to Ronda. Ronda was supposed to just be a quick stop for some pictures, but the day turned strange soon after arriving. I walked into a shop only to notice that the lights were off. It didn’t completely register with me at first, but when I went to pay and the shopkeeper told me it was “cash only” I realized the power was out. Over the next half hour in town, I came to find out that it wasn’t just the town that was without power, but the whole country as well as Portugal and part of France.
Not only power, but also all communication. No cell phone service. No news about what was happening. And no way to know how long it would last. I found one restaurant that was still serving if you had cash, and got some paella (the first of many over the next few days…) and chatted with some people about what might be going on, but nobody really knew much.
I was fortunate to have a full tank of gas (gas stations could not pump gas with no power), offline Google Maps (PSA: ALWAYS download offline Google Maps when you travel, it saved my bacon this time), and a Rick Steves book with the name and address of a hotel in Grenada. So I plugged in the address of the hotel and set out for a two-hour drive to Grenada.
When I arrived in Grenada, it was a bit strange. Police were out in force directing traffic (because no traffic lights were operating), people were just out walking in the streets, and it was all a little chaotic. I found the hotel, and when I walked in, a woman was sitting in the dark in the lobby (it turned out that she was the owner, along with her mother, who was probably in her 90’s). My Spanish is questionable at best, and she didn’t speak much English. But she understood that I was looking for a room and said I could stay, but “cash only” (because nobody was taking credit cards). I asked if she knew what was going on with the power, and she said no, this had never happened before. She pointed her finger at me and said sternly, “You live here now, until this is over.” She was so sweet. Then she grabbed my hand and said that we were going to the market for groceries since there were no restaurants open.
After walking about 5 minutes, we arrived at the market only to find a surreal scene. The store had just about been emptied. It had only been 5 hours since the power went out, but people were panic buying, and it was slim pickings. I found enough to get me through a couple of days if needed, and back to the hotel we went.
Watching the town from the hotel balcony that night was fascinating. So quiet. With nothing open and only the occasional car driving around, it was oddly quiet. But with nothing to do, people just came out into the streets to hang out and socialize.
It’s past 5:00 in the evening here, but 12:33 is the moment that the power went out…
