It has been like going back 60 years in time. No light or mobile. Neither gasoline nor bread, with queues at the supermarket and almost everything closed”. This is how the people of La Gomera have lived for the last three days, including yesterday, since last Sunday morning a fire at the El Palmar thermal power station (the only one that exists on the Canary Island and that supplies its 22,000 inhabitants) forced a stop the operation and cause an energetic zero.
Fernando Barrera, the president of the Association of Entrepreneurs of La Gomera (AEB), assures that the situation has been “terrible”, since in addition to not having electricity there was no telephone signal – some repeaters on the island are powered by sunlight , but others are powered by electricity – so there was no way of knowing what was happening or when the problem would be fixed. “No television, no internet, no telephone, no light…”, says Barrera, who is diabetic and had to go to the health center near his home in the island’s capital, San Sebastián de La Gomera, to be kept in The two injectors that I had at home and that I could not keep cold were cold.
As he recounts, supermarkets opened from Monday and faced long lines. In addition, they had closed all the cold and frozen services and only sold dry products. “In San Sebastián there is a large frozen food store and that is the only meat and fish that could be bought. Everything else, closed, ”says Barrera. In addition, many of the businesses chose not to open their doors because they could not charge by card. Obtaining cash was also an impossible task, since the ATMs of financial institutions did not work. The same happened with the gas stations, which did not dispense fuel for more than two or three hours a day, while their electricity groups worked. “We had never experienced a situation like this on the island. Only when it happens do you realize how dependent we are on electricity and how everything stops when there isn’t any”, she indicates.
La Gomera families have thrown away candles, LED lights, barbecues and small camping stoves to cook, while much of the food they had in their fridges and freezers was spoiling with the passing of the hours. There are people who have lost medicines due to lack of refrigeration.
The zero energy has also caused the “sudden” departure of many tourists, who have chosen to go to Tenerife instead of staying on La Gomera. Others have canceled their reservations, as Elías Rodríguez, owner of the La Gaviota pension, in Playa de Santiago, with ten rooms, points out. “On Monday three people canceled their stay and yesterday several called to ask. What we are experiencing is like a movie, ”he indicates.
Since Sunday, both the Endesa electricity company, responsible for the thermal power plant, as well as the Canary Islands authorities and even the State -through the Ministry of Defense- have had personal and technical means to restore supply and ensure that the island recovers as soon as possible. The normality. As reported by the company, yesterday afternoon 95% of the users had recovered the supply and some 900 people were pending. However, the reality on the island is still far from being “normal”. The advice launched by the authorities is that they have a “prudent consumption and save energy” to avoid decompensation. In addition, the neighbors report, the supply “goes and comes back”. “I’m working on the computer, but with the light off just in case,” says Barrera. Absolute normality will take weeks to arrive.
Rafael Ventura, owner of the La Marea restaurant in Playa Santiago, the tourist area par excellence, kept his place closed on Sunday for rest and on Monday he was forced to suspend the reservations he had, for about 30 people. Yesterday afternoon he was still doubting whether to open or not. “There is a lot of uncertainty and little information. I don’t know if it is better to wait a few days because the supply is not going well and I can find myself with a full restaurant and not being able to eat”, he says.
After almost three days without electricity, the authorities of La Gomera and the citizens of the island demand solutions so that a situation like this does not happen again. They demand the renovation of an energy infrastructure that is more than 35 years old, while demands and complaints are being prepared to recover everything lost. Million-dollar compensation is expected, while the gomeros complain about the lack of information. “There can always be emergencies, but management and communication have not been adequate,” says Ronald González, with a home appliance and computer business in Valle Gran Rey. “It’s unbelievable for something like this to happen.”
