The "normality" of power outages remains a reality for many municipalities, especially with the arrival of bad weather. In Mas de Barberans, residents have lost count of the service interruptions they have suffered over the past year, also affecting telephony and internet. This problem, however, dates back a long time.
“"I wouldn't know how to give a number due to the sheer absurdity of the cuts there have been. The day of the blackout was just another day."
Service interruptions often last for hours, sometimes exceeding 12 hours. The electricity company, E-Distribución (part of the Endesa group), attributes these incidents to meteorological phenomena or problems with animals. However, the town council emphasizes that these issues would not occur if the network were "robust and in good condition."
Although some interventions were carried out last April, before the major festivities, the significant investment promised last year in a meeting with the company and the Consell Comarcal del Montsià has yet to materialize. The town council eagerly awaits these improvements.
There is a project to bring electricity to the municipality from the neighboring town of Roquetes, a complex proposal involving expropriations and considerable "red tape." The current network is considered "totally obsolete and damaged," with rotten poles that fall with the slightest gust of wind.
The weather, with wind gusts exceeding 150 kilometers per hour, cannot be an excuse to justify the impact on such an old network. The town council insists that the cuts are due to the precariousness of the infrastructure, not just the wind.
“"Did the pole fall because of the wind, or did it fall because of the wind and because it was rotten it couldn't withstand it?"
A call has been made to citizens not to resign themselves to this "undignified" situation, and urgent solutions have been demanded from Endesa. It is proposed that the electricity company assist businesses and residents with generators during prolonged outages, as rural town councils lack the economic capacity to do so. The Rural Municipalities Statute, according to the town council, should guarantee equity in supply.
For its part, sources from the Endesa group have questioned the severity of the supply problems, attributing the main cuts to storms and violent weather episodes in late 2025 and early 2026. They stated that they continue to work on equipment improvements following a three-year investment plan supervised by the Govern.
