Las historias de caos y solidaridad de los taxistas madrileños durante el gran apagón

On Monday, April 28, 2025, will be remembered in the collective memory of Spain as the day the country plunged into darkness. A massive blackout, unprecedented in recent times, left millions of citizens without electricity for hours, unleashing chaos in the streets, transportation, and daily life. Among the most affected groups, Madrid taxi drivers experienced a day that oscillated between despair and solidarity.

At the Atocha taxi stand, conversations this morning still revolved around the experienced collapse. Juan, a seasoned taxi driver, summed it up: «Yesterday was total chaos. It took me two and a half hours for a journey I usually do in 20 minutes. In the end, I only worked for seven hours because it was impossible to move: the traffic lights weren’t working, people were crossing anywhere… It wasn’t work, it was being stuck.»

The traffic collapse was widespread. Without traffic lights, trains, subways, crowded buses, blocked intersections, and disoriented pedestrians.

Javier, another taxi driver, was luckier: the blackout caught him at Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport. «We thought today could be similar, but it’s not. It seems like everything is returning to normal,» he comments relieved.

However, Monday was different: «It was a day not to forget. I was at T4 waiting for clients when messages from colleagues started arriving on WhatsApp. There was a lot of uncertainty.»

One of his passengers, a young man who needed to get to Getafe, had withdrawn cash due to the impossibility of paying with a card. «He paid me part of it and left money to pay, if he pays me well and if not, that’s okay too,» he says.

«I myself took almost four hours to get home afterwards. People stopped me asking for rides, but I couldn’t commit: I didn’t even know if I had enough gas or if I could get into my garage,» he adds.

A remarkable story is that of Ayesha, the only Pakistani woman taxi driver in Madrid. Her generosity shone amid the disorder. «Yesterday, I worked twelve hours. We couldn’t go home; people were sleeping on the street,» she recounts.

She found herself transporting a young woman who needed to travel to Galicia, but due to the blackout, there were no available trains or hotels to stay. Despite having only 50 euros, Ayesha decided to take her to the airport: «We have to help.»

This blackout has left an indelible mark on collective memories and has shown the resilience and solidarity of Spanish citizens in adverse situations. The tired and worried faces reflect a Monday that will go down in history as a day when the lights went out, but also where acts of kindness and humanity shone.