Costa del Sol village ends year in darkness after second power cut in four days

Around 200 residents in Maro (Nerja) on the eastern Costa del Sol spent New Year's Eve in the dark after a power cut that began at around 7.30pm on 31 December was not resolved until almost 10am on Thursday 1 January. The power cut affected approximately half of the homes in the coastal village according to what the residents themselves told SUR.

"It's outrageous, it's the second time in just four days. It's not right. There are many elderly people and we spent the night in the dark, with candles and torches," said Antonio Gallardo, one of the residents affected, who highlighted the discomfort caused by a prolonged power cut on such a special date.

The incident sparked a wave of complaints on social media, directed at Endesa and its distributor, e-distribución, with residents complaining that the fault had recurred after a supposed recent repair. "The repair was a complete botch job," they said in one of the messages, demanding a permanent solution and "clear explanations" about what had happened.

Councillor for Maro, Nuchi Moreno, publicly demanded immediate explanations from the electricity company. "It's unacceptable that Maro was left without power on New Year's Eve. We demand to know the cause, why it wasn't prevented and what measures will be taken to ensure it doesn't happen again," she stated.

Some residents also point out that the van sent to the village didn't belong to Endesa, but to another subcontracted company, which has fuelled doubts about the true origin of the outage. "Perhaps the culprits behind the blackout are right here next door. This needs to be clarified so we can know the truth," they say.

Residents of the village of Macharaviaya, which is also in the Axarquía area to the east of Malaga province, spent Christmas Eve in darkness, when an almost 12-hour power outage lasted from 4:30pm to 4.15am affected the entire municipality after a lightning strike hit the main transformer, coinciding with an intense hailstorm that left the village cut off for several hours.

In that instance, the mayor of Macharaviaya, Antonio Campos (PSOE), explained to SUR that the blackout completely disrupted Christmas Eve celebrations and forced residents to improvise dinners by candlelight and torch, although he thanked the Endesa workers who managed to restore power in the early hours of the morning.

In Maro, the residents' discontent is palpable and adds to a feeling of vulnerability given the repeated power outages on key dates. Residents are now demanding a lasting solution and improved service, especially in a village with an aging population and a hospitality industry which is directly affected by these types of incidents.