Brexit took a toll. Covid was a struggle. But nothing took down my freelance business faster than 14 hours without electricity.
How much cash do you have right now? Not in your Apple Wallet. Coins and notes. On Monday 28th April 2025, I had 2 euros, 44 cents. Not much. Especially when you consider that card payments were out, and ATMs didn’t function. In a world without electricity, cash is king.
The next question is, how will you eat? The fridge is out, the freezer too. The oven, hob, microwave, toaster and kettle are all electric. There isn’t even hot water. It’s uncanny how instantly you plunge to the base of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. At the start of Monday, I was worried about how I was going to finish three articles in time for Friday (standard freelance writer concerns). By midday, I was hashing out a full-scale survival plan for how to stretch my 2 euros 44 cents, mouldy salad, bread, olives, chorizo and (thank god) red wine to the limit. It was like Bear Grylls, city apocalypse edition.
With no phone connection, internet, music or tv I spent a lot of time cleaning, trying not to panic. Then staring at the ceiling in silence… trying not to panic.
How many deadlines would I miss? How many clients would I lose? I can’t even contact them. What is the damage? Are we talking just the loss of one or two articles (at £600 each), or have we crossed into the territory of cancelling retainers? I have a contract for £36,000 with one client, what if that falls down the drain? I’m only in my second month with them. As much as this digital life provides freedom, it can also unravel me.
Meanwhile, in the streets of Granada, other business owners were not staring in silence. One man was frantic, hands on his face, leaping around, aghast in the sweltering heat. As the proprietor of a chain of ice cream stores, he was witnessing his profits melt down the sides of non-functioning freezers.
When we came back later he had two petrol generators rattling away like machine guns in the street, pumping out hot fumes. It didn’t make for appetising ice creams. Besides, nobody could spare the cash. I saw the sinking faces of my local deli owners too. Plunged into hot darkness, rows of profitable meats and cheeses sweated and drooped into losses.
All the while, street rumours were swirling that the outage was a malicious Russian act. That World War III was starting. Could that be true? The only access to news was car radios, and eavesdropping conversations. In the few supermarkets who had card machines running on generators, crowds swept up bottled water, toilet paper and non-perishable items in a quiet and focused frenzy.
It’s hair-raising when a country is cut off from electricity. Reliable information collapses, systems turn upside down, and livelihoods like mine feel flimsy. I know how to make money from articles. But I never considered accessing it. The grim reality is that I am one power cut away from losing everything. And that’s in Andalusia, a region famous for its warm weather and community spirit.
How would this have played out in cities like London or New York? If all the subways and trains clanked to a stop, all the streetlights fell black and all the ATMs sank to the abyss, what would happen next? In 14 hours of darkness, uncertainty and misinformation, would you feel safe?
And more to the point… do you have enough cash?
Check out my Business Insider article!
