Most believe information provided by government during blackout was 'insufficient'

Almost 60% of citizens polled believe that the information provided by the Spanish government during last Monday's blackout was "insufficient," while just 28.4% feel it was sufficient, according to a flash survey published this Saturday by Spain's national polling agency, CIS.

Among those who found information lacking, 38.4% would have liked more data on the causes of the blackout, 26.3% point to information on when the service would be restored, and 24.1% believe that more "speed" was needed when appearing publicly.

Among the causes of the blackout, 46.2% of Spaniards point to a possible "accident or failure" of the electrical system, while 26.6% believe that there was a deliberate act or a cyberattack behind it.

Regarding the measures to prevent further blackouts, 44.2% believe that it is important to modernize the electrical network, 41.7% want more investment in critical infrastructures such as networks, electricity, or mobility, and 32.6% point to the need to have more generators installed in public entities and services.

Just over half, 52.4%, of respondents said that the blackout affected them "a lot or quite a lot", 46.2% "a little or not at all," and 1.4% said that the degree of impact was "regular."

45.6% were at home at the time of the blackout, 27.6% at work, and 14.7% on the street.

What respondents missed most during the blackout was the lack of electricity to cook, keep medicine or food in the fridge (62.1%), the fact that telephones did not work (55.5%), and the lack of internet (26.3%).

The majority of Spaniards say that the blackout did not scare them, 78%, although 21.5% said it did. Women, at 29.1%, were more afraid than men, at 13.5%. By age group, those who were most afraid were the youngest: between 25 and 34 years old (31.6%) and between 18 and 24 years old (25.3%).

41.6% of those surveyed admitted that they missed things in their home during the blackout: 34.9% some non-electrical energy source for cooking, 15.5% a battery-operated radio, and 10% flashlights or candles. In addition, 7% missed water and 1.3% medicines.

PM defends actions

On Monday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez defended the government's actions during the blackout, emphasizing that it acted "with prudence and rigor" to clarify the causes of the incident.

In a speech at the Cercle d'Economia economic forum in Barcelona, he stated that Spain "responded like the great country it is," adding that "no society would have responded better."

Meanwhile, the third vice president of the Spanish government, Sara Aagesen, firmly denied reports suggesting that electricity companies had warned the government months earlier about the risk of a blackout as a result of its commitment to renewables.

"Absolutely not, they never warned us," she said in an interview with Spanish public broadcaster TVE.

At this point, she said, it cannot be confirmed that renewables were the cause of the problem.

She also explained that the Spanish government's data analysis revealed that 19 seconds before the blackout, there was another loss of generation at several facilities "in southern Spain," which the system was able to absorb.