Outage plunges Madrid into chaos

Madrid - Befuddled passers-by holding torches and cellphones squinted through pitch-black streets early yesterday and stranded travellers spent the night at train stations after a crippling blackout plunged Spain into darkness.

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For Carmen Martinez, a 47-year-old economist, the eery hush in the streets of Madrid, a vibrant city renowned for its nightlife, "reminded me a little of the pandemic era, because there were so few people".

A visibly flustered Isabel had been traipsing through the Spanish capital's outer suburbs for more than three hours in the quest to get home and shower.