الوسم: Transport

Power Outage Hits Spain and Portugal: Resilience in Adversity

People boarding a metro train as operations gradually restart after a massive power outage that impacted Spain and Portugal, in Madrid, Spain, April 29, 2025. — Reuters

• Investigation Underway: Authorities are working to determine the cause of the outage.
• Transport Services Halted: Public transportation has come to a standstill.
• Power Supply Restored: Electricity has been restored in various regions.

MADRID/LISBON: Late Monday, power began to return to areas of the Iberian Peninsula after an extensive blackout disrupted daily life across Spain and Portugal, resulting in grounded flights and halted public transport, while hospitals were forced to suspend routine procedures.

In response, Spain’s Interior Ministry declared a national emergency, deploying 30,000 police officers nationwide to maintain order as both governments met for crisis discussions. Such widespread outages are quite rare in Europe.

The source of the outage remains uncertain, with Portugal suggesting a fault may have originated in Spain, while Spain indicated it could be linked to a disrupted connection to France. Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro noted that there was "no evidence" to suggest a cyberattack was responsible, which began at approximately 10:33 GMT.

Despite this, speculation surfaced about potential sabotage, with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez reporting a conversation with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. Sanchez highlighted a catastrophic drop in electricity generation—15GW in just five seconds—representing 60% of Spain’s national demand.

"This is unprecedented," he emphasized.

Joao Conceicao, a board member of Portugal’s grid operator, REN, indicated that the region had not dismissed a possible significant electrical voltage fluctuation that might have started in the Spanish system and spread to Portugal.

"It could be due to a wide range of factors; it’s too early to pinpoint an exact cause," he explained, adding that REN was in close communication with Spain.

Spain’s grid operator, REE, attributed the failure to a loss of connection with France, causing a cascade effect. Eduardo Prieto from REE stated, "The magnitude of power loss exceeded what European systems are built to manage, leading to the disconnection of both the Spanish and French grids."

Earlier, some areas in France also experienced brief outages. RTE, the French grid operator, reported that it had initiated efforts to supply power to parts of northern Spain following the incident.

Power Restoration Efforts

In Spain, power began to return in areas like the Basque Country and Barcelona in the early afternoon, followed by parts of Madrid later that evening. By late Monday, around 61% of electricity had been restored nationwide, according to grid officials.

Enagas reported that emergency protocols had been activated to meet demand during the outage. However, Prieto mentioned that returning to normalcy would take "several hours."

Madrid Mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida urged residents to stay home as city streetlights were still not fully operational, emphasizing the importance of allowing emergency services to navigate freely.

Power was also gradually returning to several locations in Portugal late Monday, including central Lisbon, with REN confirming that 85 out of 89 power substations were back online.

City-Wide Disruptions

The blackout had widespread repercussions across the region. Hospitals in Madrid and Catalonia suspended routine medical services while ensuring care for critical patients with backup generators. Several oil refineries in Spain shut down, and major retail chains such as Lidl and IKEA also closed stores.

Traffic signals were affected in Portugal, leading to the closure of metro services in Lisbon and Porto, and train cancellations across both countries. One traveler found herself stranded outside Madrid’s Atocha railway station, expressing concern for her daughter, who was in labor in Barcelona.

Sanchez announced late Monday that around 35,000 train passengers had been rescued from stranded trains, although 11 trains remained stuck in remote areas.

Images from supermarkets in Madrid depicted long lines at checkout and empty shelves as residents rushed to stock up on essentials. Meanwhile, matches at the Madrid Open tennis tournament were postponed.

The Bank of Spain indicated that backup systems allowed electronic banking to function "adequately," though some residents reported blank ATM screens. Traffic congestion in central Madrid intensified as non-functional traffic lights left volunteer traffic directors at intersections.

As many took an impromptu half-day off, they gathered in public spaces for informal socializing or prepared meals by candlelight at home.

According to Cloudflare Radar, internet traffic in Portugal dropped by 90% and by 80% in Spain compared to the previous week, illustrating the event’s vast impact.

Such extensive power outages are a rare occurrence in Europe. For example, a significant incident in 2003 resulted in a major blackout across Italy for roughly 12 hours due to a problem with a hydroelectric power line connecting Italy and Switzerland. In 2006, an overloaded electrical network in Germany sparked outages across parts of Europe, extending as far as Morocco.

Currently, around 43% of Spain’s energy comes from wind and solar sources, with nuclear accounting for an additional 20%, and fossil fuels providing 23%, as reported by energy think tank Ember.