Blackout in Europe: 12 Hours of Chaos, 72 Hours of Conspiracies, and a Nuclear Debate We Can’t Ignore

Yesterday, many of us were talking about a massive blackout that affected much of the Iberian Peninsula. The countries hit hardest by the disaster were Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium, Andorra, and other nearby nations. What’s surprising is that when the blackout began, it was said that power wouldn’t return for at least 72 hours. Yet, the supply started to be restored in just 12 hours.

The most serious aspect of these kinds of failures, especially in countries with vertical infrastructure, is that it’s not just the lights that go out: water doesn’t reach high floors because electric pumps stop working. Add to that the fact that these are highly digitalized societies where cash is barely used. Without electricity, there are no payments, no transactions, commerce grinds to a halt, and transportation paralyzes. It’s genuine, almost apocalyptic chaos.

What catches my attention most, reading and listening to the news, is how everything becomes polarized nowadays. Our tribal nature kicks in automatically, and two opposing sides form. On one hand, those who claim it was just a technical failure: an overload, an imbalance between supply and demand that collapsed the system. On the other, those who fire up the conspiracy theory machine: it was a cyberattack, Russia was behind it, or ISIS, or even ETA. Anything goes in the wildest corners of collective imagination.

And of course, after that comes the inevitable political boxing match. In Spain, where the statist left under Pedro Sánchez governs, the conservative opposition didn’t hesitate to throw accusations: that Sánchez appointed a loyalist to the state-owned company managing the electricity, that there’s corruption, that it’s yet another sign of inefficiency. And so begins the endless tug-of-war between left and right, trading blows under the table.

The right argues the problem is structural: there’s only one company managing the entire electrical grid, it’s state-controlled, and that hinders efficiency. They propose opening the market to multiple private companies to avoid monopolies and ensure better service through competition. The left, meanwhile, defends itself as best it can.

But it doesn’t stop there. The discussion escalates to another level: energy. Now the focus is on clean energy. The right claims the real culprit is reliance on sources like solar or wind, which are unpredictable, weather-dependent, and complicate keeping the system balanced. With fossil fuels, they say, production can at least be controlled to ensure supply. The left, on the other hand, defends these sources as the inevitable and necessary future.

And so, a blackout turns into an ideological battlefield. No one looks for solutions; everyone looks for someone to blame. Each side seizes the situation to reinforce their narrative, score points, or deflect attention. It’s unfortunate, but that’s how it is. And not just in Spain—it happens worldwide.

What’s curious is that this happens in the so-called “first world,” where systems are supposed to be more stable. That a 72-hour outage was predicted, only for it to be resolved in 12, raises many questions. In countries like Mexico, when I was a kid, blackouts were a daily occurrence. I remember my mother rushing me to finish my homework before the power went out. If I took too long, she’d scold me, pull out a lamp or a kerosene lantern, and make me finish anyway.

Today, without power, my daughters don’t know what to do. No internet, no tablets, no TV—they’re paralyzed. When I tell them that in my childhood we had none of that, they’re shocked. “How did you live?” they ask. And the truth is, we lived. We played in the street, rode bikes, talked face-to-face with friends and neighbors.

One revealing fact stood out to me: the first country to restore service was France. How did they manage it so quickly? Thanks to nuclear energy. A source of power increasingly banned and frowned upon in Europe, especially after accidents like Chernobyl or Fukushima. But there it is: France still uses it, and thanks to it, they were even able to support Spain and Portugal in recovering their systems.

Looking to draw something truly positive from the situation, I wonder if this is the moment to rethink our current energy model. Relying on fossil fuels has its pros and cons, just like so-called clean energies. And what about the much-demonized nuclear option? Can we learn from past mistakes and make use of it again? As the world grows more dependent on technology and digitalization advances, our reliance on energy increases, and we still haven’t found that inexhaustible, friendly source that could meet our needs safely and reliably. Add to that the fact that our tribal nature seems to be dangerously amplified today, fueled by the speed and reach of the internet and social media.