- Villages in Alt Urgell and Berguedà have been without telephone or internet service from Telefónica for more than three days.
- The outage affected both landlines and mobile phones, leaving hundreds of subscribers without communication.
- The incident was caused by private works that damaged a cable, but residents report recurring incidents.
- The city councils are demanding urgent solutions and sanctions from the Government and Telefónica to prevent similar situations.
The daily life of several Catalan municipalities has been disrupted by a prolonged communications outage that has left hundreds of residents without telephone or internet access, both fixed and mobile, for more than 72 hours. The municipalities of Vansa i Fórnols and Josa i Tuixent, in Alt Urgell, along with Gósol, in the neighboring region of Berguedà, have been in a situation of total isolation following a new interruption in the Telefónica service, which according to those affected, It is not an isolated case.
According to different reports local representatives and affected users, only those who had internet access with the local operator Alt Urgell Fibra managed to stay connected. The rest, including essential services, They remained incommunicado for three long days, until yesterday afternoon, when the company gradually restored the connection.
Complaints about repeated cuts
The discontent among residents and municipal officials It is palpable. The mayor of Vansa i Fórnols, Josep Camps, has not hesitated to describe the situation as "unacceptable" and accuses Telefónica and the authorities of showing an attitude of abandonment. The cuts, he asserts, They are repeated on average between 3 and 4 days a month, and the lack of solutions has led to discontent among the population.
The city council is calling for urgent, structural measures to put an end to what they consider a chronic problem. Among the main requests, highlights the demand that the Government impose, through a decree law, daily economic sanctions on companies that fail to guarantee service, in order to force a real improvement in connectivity in the area.
Incident and causes of the 72-hour blackout
Telefónica has blamed the origin of the problem to a cable cut that occurred during construction work on a private property in CardonaAccording to the company, access for technicians to repair the fault was blocked until permission was obtained to enter the property, which delayed the intervention. It wasn't until the morning of the third day that crews were able to work and restore service to affected customers.
At all times, according to the company's version, There was direct communication with the city council to report on the development of the incident and the recovery forecast, although local officials consider the response insufficient, as the breakdowns are too frequent and leave the population at serious risk.
Impact on safety and daily life
Digital isolation for more than 72 hours has caused considerable concern among the inhabitants, especially because it occurred while a fire prevention plan was in effect. The city council warns that in the event of any emergency, whether health-related or fire-related, the inability to alert emergency services It poses an unacceptable risk to all residents.
The situation shows the fragility of communication infrastructures In rural areas, where the lack of investment and alternatives means the outages have a much greater impact than in urban areas. Those affected reiterate the urgency of ensuring minimum communication services and call on higher authorities to act swiftly and firmly on the matter so that incidents like this don't happen again.
Living for more than three days without access to information, without the possibility of notifying family members, authorities or health workers, and completely disconnected from the rest of the world, is a situation that residents consider unacceptable in the 21st century.