by InTrieste
A group of young Italian cheerleaders returning home from the World Cheerleading Championships in the United States found themselves unexpectedly stranded in Portugal after a massive power outage crippled travel across the Iberian Peninsula this week.
Daniele Tria, 28, from Cervignano, and Sofia Batauz, 21, from Romans d’Isonzo, were among dozens of athletes grounded at Lisbon’s main international airport for nearly 36 hours after a widespread blackout paralyzed parts of Spain and Portugal. The disruption struck as the team was preparing to board a connecting flight to Milan Malpensa.
Their odyssey began abruptly around 12:30 p.m., Tria told RAI TGR Friuli Venezia Giulia, when the airport lost power and passengers were evacuated without luggage or clear instructions.
“It was a disaster,” Tria said in a video message sent to the local station. “They evacuated us without our bags and left us at the airport entrance. We had to sleep on the floor. All they gave us was a small bottle of water and a few snacks.”
After spending a night on the floor, the athletes were eventually provided with cots. The situation began to improve only after their coach, with assistance from the Italian Embassy, managed to negotiate a return plan with the airline. The team is now scheduled to fly back to Italy on May 2 — four days later than planned. Due to limited availability, the 46-member squad will return on separate flights throughout the day.
In the meantime, the athletes have been relocated to a hotel — which they are required to pay for upfront, with the promise of reimbursement to follow. Their luggage remains unaccounted for.
The cheerleaders were not the only Italians caught in the travel chaos. Five other young travelers from the Friuli region — from the towns of Forgaria and Fagagna — also reached out to RAI after seeing the news of their fellow Friulans on social media. They had been returning from Brazil when they too found themselves stuck in Lisbon, without food, water, or assistance.
After what they described as a full day in the dark, without support from the Italian Foreign Ministry or Embassy, they managed to catch a flight to Paris and then onward to Italy — concluding an exhausting 40-hour journey.
While most have now found temporary shelter, many questions remain — particularly about who will foot the bill for their unexpected expenses and when, or if, their lost luggage will be recovered.
