As I write, our corner of Spain is experiencing a power outage the likes of which we have never seen before.  

It may be that more of Spain is in the same boat, but without internet access, we are in no position to find out.

The disruption to everyday life is hard to compute until it happens. Before we lost internet access, we had already heard that Madrid was in the grip of the outage, and all the traffic lights had stopped working. The trains were stuck where they stood, more often than not, some distance from a platform.

Locally, shops in nearby Vinaros were struggling to operate. We noticed a pharmacy ploughing on in the darkness of the store, ensuring that vital medicines were still available. Even our vet was impacted, and on the very day that young Evie was in for her operation. She was the only animal to be operated on today at that vet – something Evie may not be as pleased about as we are!

Everyday life struggles when the power goes out, particularly for such a long time.

At Casa de Olivos, our award winning apartments in Traiguera, we are fortunate to be off-grid, and our power has stayed on. And whilst we have still had to manage some disruption, largely thanks to the lack of phone signal or internet, all our essential kit has continued to function as normal.

Much to the relief of the young German couple who turned up an hour ago, to our casa rural in the beautiful Castellon countryside. Driving an electric vehicle from Barcelona and finding nowhere to charge it on their journey was causing concern. And the lack of phone coverage left them even more worried about where they might stay tonight. Could they find anywhere to stay?... Let alone to be lucky enough to find a boutique hotel with electric power.

Fortunately, they had spotted Casa de Olivos a few weeks ago while planning their trip to Valencia and had noted our location on the Costa Azahar. Unable to phone ahead, they arrived at Casa de Olivos, and we were pleased to be able to offer them our superior one bedroom apartment with everything they needed for a relaxing recharge between their city hopping destinations. They are thankful that we are on site here offering our concierge service to help them destress, and that our casa rural lights are all still on.

So while life is derailed in most of Spain, it’s good to know that Casa de Olivos keeps it’s doors open and greets drive-in guests with the same hospitality no matter what.

Off-grid never felt so good.

Casa de Olivos – leave your footprints by the pool, not on the planet.

Claire y Ed