When the lights went out across Spain and Portugal in late April last year, everything ground to a halt.
The blackout was one of the most severe to hit Europe in decades. Offices had to close, planes and trains were cancelled and, perhaps most devastatingly, mobile connections vanished in an instant.
For a region used to constant connectivity, the incident has stuck long in the mind.
The vulnerability of the grid was shocking. What was more frightening, however, was how quickly the countries' digital infrastructure collapsed after its source of electricity was compromised.
Now, more than a year on, Spain's government is looking to address this issue. Oscar Lopez, Spanish Government's Digital Transformation Minister, announced on 25 June a new decree that will require mobile operators to guarantee at least four hours of network coverage for most of the population during power cuts.
