No arrests have been made at this time, according to a spokesperson for the French national gendarmerie on Saturday.
According to police sources, a high-voltage substation in the village of Tanneron, which supplies Cannes, was the subject of an overnight fire, likely an arson attack.
Later, Villeneuve-Loubet’s electricity pylon and Tanneron power substation were both vandalized, according to prosecutors and local authorities.
The Alpes-Maritimes region’s regional council had earlier announced earlier on Saturday that a significant electrical outage was affecting the region’s western region, which includes Cannes.
RTE and regional officials claim that the outage started on Saturday at 10 a.m. local time (08:00 GMT), which affected 160, 000 homes.
As power was restored around 3 p.m. (13:00 GMT), locals cheered loudly and heard music from beachfront speakers.
Businesses on the main shopping street in the Alpes-Maritimes had been closed because of the outages of the traffic lights.
On Monday, separate power outages impacted important infrastructure and airport operations across the Iberian Peninsula and some of southern France. Officials disputed foul play.
RTE reports that the French Basque Country experienced brief power outages lasting only a few minutes compared to Spain and Portugal’s blackouts last month.
The most recent issue occurred on Saturday evening just before the Palais des Festivals’ 78th Cannes Film Festival’s awards ceremony.
Festival organizers previously claimed to have switched to an alternative electricity supply in spite of the power outage, which made it possible to “maintain the events and screenings planned for today in normal conditions, including the closing ceremony.”
A jury led by French actor Juliette Binoche is scheduled to announce the winners of the 22 films in the Palme d’Or for best picture after a politically charged two weeks.
Source: Aljazeera
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