It was only a few, short weeks ago that a sudden and unprecedented power outage struck the entire Iberian Peninsula, plunging nearly all of Spain and Portugal into darkness for several hours.
This weekend, the outages continued as southeastern France experienced two major power blackouts that disrupted daily life in Cannes and Nice, affecting more than 200,000 homes and critical infrastructure. The incidents are being investigated as acts of sabotage and arson, with anarchist groups claiming responsibility.
The first major outage occurred early Saturday, coinciding with the final day of the Cannes Film Festival. It is being reported that a fire broke out overnight at an electrical substation in Tanneron, west of Cannes, leading to a blackout that impacted approximately 160,000 homes.
Shortly after, technicians discovered a dangerously unstable high-voltage electricity pylon in Villeneuve-Louet, northeast of Cannes. Three of its supporting pillars had been cut, forcing a secondary shutdown.
The cut knocked out traffic lights and bank machines in Cannes, as well as threatening the finale to the film festival.The festival “switched to an alternative electricity power supply” to keep the closing ceremony and award events going.Firefighters battled for five hours to put out the flames at the sub-station, officials said.In the attack on the high-voltage pylon, three of its four legs had been damaged, said prosecutors.
Then, just hours after power was restored in Cannes, a second blackout struck Nice and neighboring towns (Saint-Laurent-du-Var and Cagnes-sur-Mer). Nearly 45,000 homes lost electricity after a fire was deliberately set at an electrical transformer.
In a post on X, the mayor of the coastal city, Christian Estrosi, blamed “malicious acts.” The Nice public prosecutor said a criminal investigation has been opened for “organized arson.”The blackout in Nice started around 2:00 a.m. local time (0:00 a.m. GMT) and left approximately 45,000 households without electricity. The city’s trams stopped, and power was briefly cut to Nice Côte d’Azur Airport during its overnight closure.According to the energy provider company Enedis, power was fully restored by 5:30 a.m.
Two anarchist groups are claiming responsibility. Three guesses as to the political nature of the groups, and the first two don’t count.
An “ultra-left anarchist gang” has claimed responsibility for a blackout that plunged 160,000 homes into darkness on the Côte d’Azur – just hours before the Cannes Film Festival awards show.French prosecutors in Grasse and Draguignan have now launched a probe into suspected sabotage after a shadowy statement was posted online by the group.In the anonymous release the group said: “We sabotaged the main electrical substation supplying the Cannes metropolitan area and cut down the 225 kV line coming from Nice.”They claimed the dramatic blackout was a deliberate attempt to cripple key infrastructure including research centres, start-ups, an aerospace factory, the local airport, and military and technological hubs.
Investigations are continuing to determine if these claims are true. Additionally, security has been heightened.
However, I fear I will be reporting on more serious blackouts in the future.
(Image by perplexity.ai)
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