Blackout hits Vélez-Málaga old town. Town hall criticises Endesa

A fault on the electricity network left homes, shops and hospitality businesses in the historic centre of Vélez-Málaga without power for several hours on Saturday 7 November, Diario Sur reported. The town hall publicly criticised Endesa, the supplier, for what it called a lack of information and solutions.

Key facts

• When: the incident began at about 16.28 on Saturday 7 November, according to Diario Sur.
• Where: the historic centre (casco antiguo) of Vélez-Málaga, in the Axarquía.
• Who was affected: private homes, shops and hospitality businesses.
• Cause: a fault on the grid operated by Endesa; the source gives no further detail.
• Restoration: e-distribución initially forecast power would return around 21.00, but Diario Sur said it could not confirm whether that happened.

Town hall complaint

The mayor, Jesús María Claros (PP), was in contact with Endesa officials throughout the day to demand an urgent fix, according to a statement issued by the ayuntamiento (town hall). The council said the replies it received gave no guarantees about when supply would return.

The governing coalition of PP and GIPMTM described the situation as "absolutely unacceptable" because of how long the outage lasted and the uncertainty it caused.

In a statement published on social media, the town hall said: "No podemos aceptar que una incidencia de estas características se prolongue durante tantas horas sin que se ofrezca información clara y soluciones a los afectados." In English, it said it could not accept an incident like this dragging on for so many hours without clear information and solutions for those affected.

It added that residents' patience cannot be the answer to a lack of solutions from an electricity company.

Lifts and local businesses

Among the council's main concerns were older people and residents with reduced mobility living in buildings where lifts stopped working because of the blackout.

The town hall also warned of the economic damage a prolonged outage can cause to shops and hospitality venues in the old town, particularly on a weekend.

What Endesa said

E-distribución, the Endesa subsidiary responsible for the grid, told affected customers it had sent a technical team to find the source of the fault and repair it, according to Diario Sur. Its first estimate for restoring supply was around 21.00.

The mayor said he will keep pressing Endesa for good-quality supply and quick responses to incidents that disrupt daily life for residents and businesses.

What is still unknown

The report does not say what caused the fault, exactly how many customers were affected or when power was finally restored. Residents who experienced the outage can contact their supplier or the town hall for further information.