The lightning strike that robbed Tenerife of all power at 12.45 today had a dramatic and life changing effect on me, my freshly cooked lunchtime baguette had to be replaced by a sandwich, such are the hardships of living in Tenerife.

It must have been pretty scary stuff as the flash hit the main power station (above) at Las Caletillas, just below the TF 1 motorway, as it puffs its way uphill and into Santa Cruz. That was in the north, back here in the south, my personal crisis soon passed, as my sandwich replacement at Dolce Dolce on the Los Cristianos beachfront, set me up for an afternoon of swimming and lazing in the sun.

Of course it added some exitement to the general mid day conversations, and a few headaches for bar and cafe owners, no cooking, how to keep the beer cool and even thoughts of how to close up later using electric shutters. Some bigger, more modern complexes had back up generators, but I was surprised that the Los Cristianos cultural centre didn’t have their own supply.

Walking along the front, it was pretty well business as usual, nothing phases the Canarians, if darkness had descended with power still missing, it would have been a good excuse for a party, and the Brits could always revive that blitz spirit, with defiant sing songs. After a few hours, power was restored bit by bit, with little more harm than a few warmer beers and some runny ice cream. At the beach, the sea was calm and welcoming, and the sun bright and browning. As you can see from the pic below, worry is not high on the agenda in Tenerife.