On foot or hitchhiking: the odyssey of getting home without trains during a blackout
Many users traveled on foot, tried to get into a car, or chose to sleep at friends' houses in Barcelona.
BarcelonaFor many, returning home yesterday, Monday, was a real ordeal. At various exits in Barcelona, groups of people huddled together and, as cars passed, raised their arms with signs indicating their destination: Cerdanyola, Vilassar de Mar, Mataró, Granollers, Cardedeu... The luckiest were rescued. Returning by public transport was practically impossible.Without trains and unable to communicate with family or friends, there weren't many alternatives.
In our case, since we live in Vallès, returning on foot, at a good pace, was more than four hours. Considering we were traveling with backpacks filled with school books and computers, it wasn't very feasible. We were lucky that a colleague offered us her car. It wasn't easy leaving Barcelona because everything was quite congested. Many traffic lights weren't working, and we struggled a bit with gas: we passed five gas stations, and at every one of them, the pump lights were off. What did work was the toll for the Vallvidrera Tunnels. You could pay by card, which surprised us considering they were practically non-functional everywhere. For example, you couldn't buy tickets for public transport.
Without backup
Many people walked to Fabra i Puig station yesterday, Monday, to catch an intercity bus and return home. Sandra, who works at the Barcelona Design Museum and lives in Sabadell, walked from Plaça de les Glòries to Fabra i Puig to catch the bus: "I stood in the longest queue of my life, and up to three buses passed before I could get on. Today I also have to go to Barcelona, let's see how it goes." On Tuesday, she found the Sabadell Renfe station closed and will wait to catch a bus.
A group of teachers from a secondary school in Hostafrancs, who had been on guard yesterday, Monday, until all the parents could pick up their children, also walked to Fabra i Puig, hoping to catch a bus that would take them back to Cerdanyola and Montcada i Reixac. There was a certain amount of frustration, and some who were waiting in line for a bus wondered where the backup buses were. "Where the hell are the reinforcements?! They're not here, and they're not expected," lamented a girl who was supposed to take a bus to Caldes de Montbui. Another, ironically, explained that as a Renfe rider, he was used to all kinds of hardships. María, who lives in Cardedeu, said that eventually her father would be rescued by car. "I've been lucky!" she asserted.
Marc, who lives in Sabadell, decided to take it easy. He walked to Sagrera, where a friend of his lives, and stayed for a drink. "When I saw the atmosphere and traffic were calmer, I went to Fabra i Puig to look for the bus and, without problems or queues, I caught it and was home by 10 p.m.," he explains. Gemma, who lives in Hospitalet de Llobregat, opted to sleep at a friend's house in the Gràcia neighborhood.
Getting to Barcelona wasn't easy this Tuesday morning either. The intercity buses were packed. Albert, waiting for the bus to Barcelona in Ripollet, saw how the driver had no intention of stopping and gestured with his arm for those waiting to be patient and get on the next bus. Many passengers opted to take the car.
