The 12 -hour blackout in Spain and Portugal is one of the events that the European Commission had in mind when it was presenting the “readiness strategy” last month, recommending citizens to have a 72 -hour survival kit for any possibility.

“In the event of extreme disorders, the initial period is the most critical,” the document said, presenting possible scenarios, from war to cyber attacks and deadly diseases to floods caused by climate crisis.

“What happened in Spain, Portugal and partly in France shows that we must be prepared. And this is not to terrorize the world. We are not talking about war. We are talking about all kinds of danger, “European Crisis Prevention Commissioner Hadja Lamib tells Reuters.

An important lesson from the blackout is that we have to have a little money on us.

“In times of crisis, hybrid threats, your cards, your bank cards are just pieces of plastic, unfortunately. So you need to have little money with you. But you also need a lens, a little water, a little food and so on … “.

The Commission also proposes to follow the strategy of storing products across the EU to enhance access to critical resources to tackle emergency and disaster situations, medical countermeasures, critical raw materials, energy equipment and possibly food and water. The strategy will combine EU central reserves with countries’ contributions, according to the report.

Finally, in terms of funding, it is proposed to review the funding to deal with crisis in order to ensure that these mechanisms can be expanded and adapted to the evolving risks and crises.

What should we put on the survival kit

The BBC made a guide to the case of the power outage and the five things we need to have, to … survive, in the event of long -term puppies.

Cash

The first necessary are cash. Nowadays, payments are made via mobile and card but cash is very important as in the case of a blah blah, we may not be able to use other methods.

Characteristic is the example of Spain and Portugal that formed huge queues at ATMs -at least in those still working.

“We managed to pay for our coffee with a card when the break started, but we had no cash, so we couldn’t buy anything,” Madrid’s 26 -year -old Ed Rowe told the BBC.

So, you have some cash in the wallet.

Radio

The power failure in the two countries brought a blackening of information as people spent the day without the internet, whatsApp, calls and television.

For Siegfried and Christine Buschschlüter, an old radio with transistor helped them to tune in to local radio stations to find out what was happening, after their phones stopped working.

So the classic, portable radio is good not to underestimate it. He has not died yet.

Canned food
Microwave ovens, air fryers and certain outbreaks and ovens require electricity.

In Spain and Portugal, in supermarkets, people formed large queues by buying panic -stricken essentials – reminiscent of scenes from the Covid -19 pandemic.

Many people have fled to the can, not knowing how long the blanket would last, as they don’t need cooking and do not break down soon. And many were left for Kavaja.

Candles and torches

Throughout the Iberian Peninsula, people turned to candles to illuminate the dark spaces.

Richard, who lives in the Spanish city of Alcalá de Henares, said that not a single light on the road was lit when the night fell. “People found their way in the light of torches. It was quite surreal, “he said.

Sarah Baxter, from Barcelona, ​​said she used the candles until it would warm up.

So they are also essential in every home, though there is a need for great care not to cause a fire.

Powerbank

Without electricity, people were based on the battery that their devices had. In Madrid, people queued outside technology stores to get a powerbank to be in touch with technology.

So it is good to have one in every home – good bad.