The widespread power outage that affected the Iberian Peninsula on Monday, April 28, has had indirect effects on the Canary Islands' tourism sector, despite the fact that the archipelago's electricity supply has remained stable thanks to its six independent energy systems.
At 15:15 p.m., the Canary Islands Government's General Directorate of Emergencies activated the Canary Islands Territorial Emergency Plan for Civil Protection (PLATECA) and declared an alert situation as a preventative measure to ensure monitoring of potential impacts on basic services, including those essential for tourism.
Hotels and tourist businesses suffer from failures in billing and reservation systems
Although the Canary Islands have not suffered power outages, several hotels, resorts, and businesses in the sector have reported incidents related to electronic payment systems, reservation platforms, and customer management. Many of these infrastructures depend on data centers located on the Peninsula, the United Kingdom, and Germany, territories that have experienced disruptions in technological services associated with the blackout.
According to hotel industry sources, some card payment systems experienced delays and even temporary blockages, forcing receptionists to resort to manual procedures or accept only cash payments at certain times of the day.
The situation has also affected online check-in, a common practice among British and German tourists, where platforms connected to international servers experienced intermittent outages or failed to update reservations, causing queues and delays at establishments.
The 012 service is experiencing interruptions and occasional incidents are reported.
The Canary Islands Government also reported that the 012 citizen helpline suffered a temporary interruption as a result of connectivity issues stemming from the power outage on the Iberian Peninsula. Although service has been restored, authorities warn that "some occasional incidents may still be experienced" in communications.
The Canary Islands strengthens monitoring of critical infrastructure
The activation of PLATECA entails intensifying the ongoing monitoring of technological and telecommunications systems essential to economic activity, including the tourism sector, which represents nearly 35% of the islands' GDP.
The regional government maintains a coordination and monitoring system with essential service providers and technology companies to anticipate or correct any new incidents resulting from the blackout.
Resilient tourism in the face of external impacts
The incident demonstrates the resilience of the Canary Islands' energy model, based on autonomous island systems, although it also highlights the vulnerability of certain tourism services that depend on external technological infrastructure.
Businesses are calling for continued diversification and protection of hotel management systems to minimize future risks arising from international contingencies.
