A traffic light ceases to operate due to power outage in Madrid, Spain, April 28, 2025. (Photo by Gustavo Valiente/Xinhua)Parks and gardens were filled once again with children and their parents doing something they may not have done for a long time -- playing outside.MADRID, April 29 (Xinhua) -- Finally, the lights came back on at 21:45 local time in Madrid, nine and a quarter hours after they went off...and the streets rang with cheers as the lights went on.Very few Spaniards have experienced anything like Monday's power blackout, but in general, the majority of the people in the Spanish capital city of Madrid reacted calmly to the power outage, which affected all of Spain as well as parts of Portugal and France on Monday.The blackout started at around 12:30 local time (1030 GMT) and was first visible to people in the streets when all of the traffic lights went out at the same time.A metro station is closed due to power outage in Madrid, Spain, April 28, 2025. (Photo by Gustavo Valiente/Xinhua)It took some time to realize the scale of the blackout, and it was only on entering the La Vaguada shopping center in the north of the capital that Xinhua's correspondent saw that what was happening was more than just a loss of power to the traffic system.All of the stores were without electricity, making it impossible for people to buy anything, but while a couple of alarms sounded, what actually made an impact was the quiet, rather than the usual hustle and bustle of a Monday.What stood out was the atmosphere of calm, while despite the loss of traffic lights, the roads continued to function with both drivers and pedestrians showing courtesy to each other to allow safe road crossings, while police were also quickly on hand to start directing traffic.A police officer directs traffic during a power outage in Madrid, Spain, April 28, 2025. (Photo by Gustavo Valiente/Xinhua)As I continued walking, it gradually became clear that the outage affected more than a few blocks of the city. A call from a friend working at the Ramon and Cajal Hospital, around two kilometers away, was the first indication of the scale of the problem.She said people were trapped in lifts at the hospital when the electricity supply was cut, but that it had an emergency power supply that engineers were working to reconnect.Another problem, she said, was people who had come to work from places miles from the hospital, using either metro or local trains, who had no idea how they would get home.In the street, people were beginning to gather in doorways to look at their mobile phones to try and find out what was happening. Although internet connections were weak, it was still possible at times to get a signal, with citizens surprised to discover the blackout affected not just Madrid, but all of Spain, as well as Portugal and parts of France.People wait outside a metro station during power outage in Madrid, Spain, April 28, 2025. (Photo by Gustavo Valiente/Xinhua)Despite the continued sirens of emergency vehicles through the afternoon, there were few signs of panic or worry, although there was some dark humor, with most people saying they were glad not to have been traveling on the metro system when the power went out. Others said they hoped things returned to normal quickly, mainly because they didn't want to lose all the produce in their freezers.Many also said they suspected what was happening was due to a cyber-attack of some kind, while there was frustration as it became increasingly difficult to make phone calls or maintain communications.There was another sound as well as the day drew on without power returning: children, with schools closing, no TV to watch, no screens and no internet, children were playing outside once again and the parks and gardens were filled once again with children and their parents doing something they may not have done for a long time -- playing outside.