Tag Archives: Europe Blackout

Carlos’ Illustrated Radio Listening Report and Recording of Radio Nacional de España (April 29, 2025)

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and noted political cartoonist, Carlos Latuff, who shares the following illustrated radio listening report of a special Radio Nacional de España broadcast. Note that the Spanish version of this post follows the English version:

This illustrated radio listening report was particularly special to me. It’s a radio station’s acknowledge of the importance of a battery-powered radio in emergency situations.

Spain went through a massive blackout, which left the population used to mobiles without knowing what to do. But then along comes the simple battery-powered AM-FM radio, a device that in developed countries ends up being despised and overlooked, since with a cell phone you can have access to news from all over the world.

However, there’s one *tiny* detail.

No matter how modern (and expensive) a mobile is, it can only work with electricity and, of course, a cell phone signal. And, in a massive blackout like the one Spain, Portugal and parts of Europe were facing, with no cell phone signal or Internet, mobile is useless.

Well, I can speak about this subject with authority, since last year in Porto Alegre, where I live, a flood left me without electricity, telephone and Internet for 6 days.

But back to Radio Nacional de España. They broadcasted today a compilation of audios from news aired by the station during the blackout, and what draws attention is the fact that it highlights the importance of radio in critical situations. One of the phrases in this compilation is pithy:

“Es el dia de los transistores, los viejos, los de pila.”
(It’s the day of radio receivers, the old ones, the ones with batteries).

And there are testimonies from people who said they gathered their neighbors to listen to the news on the radio, or even put a radio on their balcony connected to a speaker so that the neighbors could hear the news from Radio Nacional de España. I believe this was the first time I heard a major broadcaster making such a clear recognition of the importance of the radio.

The younger generations will have to learn that they cannot depend solely and exclusively on the Internet.

For better or for worse.

Click here to view on YouTube.

Informe Ilustrado de Escucha de Radio y Grabación de Radio Nacional de España de Carlos (29 de abril de 2025)

Muchas gracias al colaborador de SWLing Post y reconocido caricaturista político, Carlos Latuff, quien comparte el siguiente informe ilustrado de escucha de una emisión especial de Radio Nacional de España:

Este reportaje ilustrado sobre la escucha de radio fue especial para mí.

Es el reconocimiento de una emisora ??a la importancia de una radio de pilas en situaciones de emergencia.

España sufrió un apagón masivo que dejó a la población acostumbrada a los móviles sin saber qué hacer. Pero entonces apareció la sencilla radio AM-FM de pilas, un dispositivo que en los países desarrollados acaba siendo despreciado e ignorado, ya que con un móvil se puede acceder a noticias de todo el mundo.

Sin embargo, hay un *pequeño* detalle.

Por muy moderno (y caro) que sea un móvil, solo funciona con electricidad y, por supuesto, con señal. Y, en un apagón masivo como el que sufrieron España, Portugal y partes de Europa, sin señal ni internet, el móvil es inútil.

Bueno, puedo hablar de este tema con total autoridad, ya que el año pasado en Porto Alegre, donde vivo, una inundación me dejó sin electricidad, teléfono ni internet durante seis días.

Pero volvamos a Radio Nacional de España. Hoy han emitido una recopilación de audios de noticias emitidas por la emisora ??durante el apagón, y lo que llama la atención es que resalta la importancia de la radio en situaciones críticas. Una de las frases de esta recopilación es concisa:

“Es el día de los transistores, los viejos, los de pila”.

Y hay testimonios de personas que dijeron haber reunido a sus vecinos para escuchar las noticias por la radio, o incluso haber puesto una radio en su balcón conectada a un altavoz para que los vecinos pudieran escuchar las noticias de Radio Nacional de España. Creo que fue la primera vez que escuché a una gran emisora ??reconocer tan claramente la importancia de la radio.

Las generaciones más jóvenes tendrán que aprender que no pueden depender única y exclusivamente de internet.

Para bien o para mal.

Haz clic aquí para verlo en YouTube.

Rádio Exterior de España returns to shortwave one day after the massive blackout that affected Spain and other regions of Europe. Porto Alegre, April 29, 18h13 UTC.

RNE Addendum

Carlos also originally confirmed that Radio Nacional de España was operational again on April 29, 2025. He noted:

Rádio Exterior de España returns to shortwave one day after the massive blackout that affected Spain and other regions of Europe. Porto Alegre, April 29, 18h13 UTC.

Click here to view on YouTube.

Pedro’s Report from Madrid During the Blackout

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In the comments section of this recent post about the massive blackout in Europe, SWLing Post contributor Pedro Moreno shared an insightful firsthand account from Madrid. He captured the value of radio during a communications outage so effectively that I wanted to give it more visibility by highlighting it in its own post:

Listener Report from Madrid During the Blackout

By Pedro Moreno

I live in Madrid, and yesterday, after the blackout started, I began to wonder if this was due to a problem with my home electrical installation. Then I expanded my research outside my home to the community premises and discovered that there was a mains shortage as well. So I went further afar and came out to the street to note that there were no noises of electrical tools, and most of the people walking in the street were absorbed looking at their phone screens—only to see there was no data connection.

So I came back home and took my Tecsun H501x radio to scan, first on the FM band, just to find out there were some missing stations—for instance, RNE1, RN2, RN3, and Radio Clásica, also a Spanish government broadcaster. Then I knew there was something really bad going on.

Next, I switched to the 7100 kHz band in LSB/USB, where some Spanish radio enthusiasts were commenting on the blackout. There, I found out the blackout was going on in Portugal, Spain, and France. Also, a German radio amateur was commenting on his station about a “blackout in Spain, Portugal, and France as well.” So then, I knew what was going on.

Then I began to search for more information, scanning up and down all the shortwave spectrum looking for more information regarding what was causing the blackout—alas, without finding any specific information about the causes or the expected time for the restoration of the power supply. But I noticed something really new and surprising: the shortwave noise across all the bands was gone, and I could tune into a large number of commercial and amateur stations without noise and quite clearly. That was amazing.

Thank you, Pedro, for sharing this firsthand account. Yes, the only positive in a blackout situation like this is the complete lack of radio interference on portions of the radio spectrum. 

I’ll add that in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Helene, my experience was very similar: the only widely available forms of communication in our region were AM/FM radio and amateur radio.

As SWLing Post contributor qwertymax so perfectly put it:

“In such situations, there are two crucial things needed to get the info delivered, namely: a capability to cover vast distances and the possibility of receiving the signal with a device that uses as low energy as possible – and these are the main traits of analogue radio.”

Europe Blackout: Carlos’ Illustrated Radio Listening Report and Numerous Posts Praising Radio

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and noted political cartoonist, Carlos Latuff, who shares illustrated radio listening report of a recent Radio La Red broadcast.

Carlos notes:

Massive blackout in Spain, Radio La Red, Argentina, 910 kHz AM:

Part of Radio La Red news bulletin (In Spanish) about the massive blackout in Spain. Listened (indoor) in Porto Alegre, Brazil, on a Xhdata d-808 receiver.

Click here to view on YouTube.

With the massive blackout that hit Spain, Portugal and other regions of Europe on Monday, April 28, once again the good old battery-powered radio proved to be the king. Without electricity, cell phone or Internet signal, people turned to the radio to stay informed. These are just some of the posts that flooded Twitter, from Spaniards grateful to have a simple battery-powered AM-FM receiver in their homes. Does anyone still have any doubts about the importance of the radio?

Blackout in Europe: Portable Radios Deliver News — REE Falls Silent During Outage

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Today, parts of Spain, Portugal, and France experienced widespread power outages, knocking out electricity, internet, and mobile networks for hours.

One BBC article captured a personal account of how radio became a vital lifeline. SWLing Post contributor Balázs Kovács shared this note from the BBC Live Update:

‘Wind-up radio has been our source of information’ Published at 13:58 BST Vanessa Buschschlüter, Latin America and Caribbean digital editor Pensioners Siegfried and Christine, who have been living on the outskirts of Madrid for the past 17 years after moving there from the US, say an old wind-up radio was their only source of information when the power cut happened. The couple had bought the radio for emergencies when they lived in the US state of Virginia, where lengthy power cuts are more frequent. With the internet, phone coverage and mobile reception all down in their area, they dug out the hand-cranked device, which enabled them to tune into Spanish radio stations. “If it wasn’t for the radio, we’d struggle to find out what’s happening. I think there may be a run on battery-operated radios as soon as the shops reopen.”

Meanwhile, a friend of our family living in Barcelona reported that her Sony ICF-SW100 proved invaluable during the blackout.

While phone and internet services were unavailable, her SW100 kept her connected to critical news and updates.

In another update, our friend Carlos Latuff noted that Radio Exterior de España — Spain’s external broadcaster — was off the air on shortwave frequencies, likely due to the blackout.

Carlos shared this video from Porto Alegre at 20:26 UTC:

Click here to view on YouTube.

Closing Thoughts…

I’ll keep this simple: When the grid goes down and the internet disappears, local radio often endures.

Millions of us have experienced this first hand.