Mayor of Matosinhos, Luísa Salgueiro, expressed criticism over the government’s handling of a nationwide power outage, emphasizing a lack of guidance and communication. Salgueiro, a member of the Socialist Party (PS), remarked on the disjointed response from civil protection services and noted that local officials had to independently manage their community’s needs during the crisis.
She highlighted that municipal civil protection commissions took charge of coordinating efforts, including the provision of fuel, water, and communication resources. “We were each left to address our communities’ needs,” Salgueiro stated, referencing the decentralized approach during the outage.
Despite acknowledging the unexpected communication challenges, Salgueiro emphasized the absence of a unified strategy, describing actions as driven by individual initiative rather than coordinated effort. “During critical moments, we need to be more coordinated and have a global strategy, which did not happen,” she pointed out, noting the lack of political communication.
Salgueiro underscored the role of mayors as the primary local civil protection authorities, arguing for improved guidance and cooperation from the government. “The Prime Minister is the top civil protection authority in the country, and we [mayors] are the leading civil protection authorities locally. There should have been collaboration between us, which did not occur,” she reiterated.
The widespread power outage on Monday, lasting approximately 10 to 11 hours, affected both Portugal and Spain, with authorities offering no explanation. The blackout led to airport closures, transportation disruptions, and road congestion in major cities, alongside fuel shortages.
Electricity distribution operator E-Redes affirmed on Tuesday morning that services had been fully restored and normalized. On Monday night, Prime Minister Luís Montenegro acknowledged the challenge of managing energy supplies to hospitals during the blackout but assured that no critical situations arose.
