Spain, Portugal and parts of France hit by massive power outage

[Duque de Bragança]

The lights are going out all over Europe Iberia (and Septimania?  )

https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/04/28/spain-portugal-and-parts-of-france-hit-by-massive-power-outage

Spain, Portugal and parts of France hit by massive power outage
A traffic light in Madrid is out of order due to a power outage, 28 April 2025
Copyright Euronews/Clea Skopeliti
By Aleksandar Brezar & Clea Skopeliti
Published on 28/04/2025 - 13:15 GMT+2•Updated 17:30

A nationwide power outage hit Spain and Portugal on Monday, leaving millions without electricity. Reports indicate issues with the European electric grid. This is what we know.
Spain and Portugal experienced a widespread power outage on Monday, leaving millions without electricity in a snap blackout.

In Portugal, official sources told domestic media that the outage, which hit around late morning local time, was nationwide, while similar reports emerged from Spain.

Madrid's Barajas International Airport and Lisbon's Humberto Delgado were closed after being left without power, and telecommunications have also been affected, with residents across the two countries saying they have no access to mobile networks.

Meanwhile, other airports have come to a standstill throughout the Iberian Peninsula, and flights from Brussels and other European cities to Spain and Portugal have been cancelled, leaving hundreds stranded, Euronews has learned.
Numerous passengers have also been left stranded in the metro systems of the Spanish and Portuguese capitals, with trains stuck in tunnels between stations, Euronews Portugal reports. The blackout has affected hospitals, too, including Madrid's La Paz and multiple medical facilities in Portugal, with some being forced to cancel surgeries.

A source at a hospital in Setúbal told Euronews that the facility has a backup generator capable of operating for 8-12 hours in the hospital's critical departments. However, there is currently no water supply. The hospital has still not received any information on when the power supply will be back or how to proceed, and it has also lost its internet access.

Citizens have been asked not to dial 112 unless in a genuine emergency to avoid overloading the lines.
The Spanish government has convened an emergency session at Moncloa and is monitoring the situation as it develops, and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has visited the control centre of Red Electrica, the company that operates Spain's electric grid, according to our colleagues at Euronews Spain.
The European Commission issued a statement on Monday afternoon, saying it was "in contact with the national authorities of Spain and Portugal as well as (European electricity transmission system operators' network) ENTSO-E to understand the underlying cause and the impact of the situation."
"As per EU legislation in place ... there are protocols in place to restore the functioning of the system," the statement read.

"Following the massive blackout, we stand ready to support Spain and Portugal in putting their systems back on track," European Commissioner for Energy and Housing Dan Jørgensen said in a post on X.
"Power is already back in some regions. Network operators and ENTSO-E (are) doing everything possible on the ground. Solidarity and unity are key for our Energy Union."
'Nobody was expecting a thing like this'
Juan Muñoz, the owner of a butcher's shop in the centre of Madrid, said the situation was uncertain for his products. Like everyone else, he had been caught off guard by the blackout: "I was very surprised, as I imagine everyone else was – nobody was expecting a thing like this."
Muñoz said he had taken what action he could but was concerned about how long the outage would last. "We've taken all the meat and put it in the walk-in fridge, and have kept it shut to retain the temperature for as long as possible," he said.
"We've no idea how long this will last. Listening to the radio, they say they don't know. I've heard that in some areas, some power is starting to return. But we'll see – if it's a question of several hours, the chicken will be destroyed."


Mariana Guzman, an employee at an ice-cream shop and cafe in the city centre, said the business would stand to lose dozens of vats of ice-cream if the power didn't return within the next hour.
Standing over the counter, she told Euronews: "We're just waiting to see what will happen because realistically, if it doesn't return by then, we'll have a big loss – they'll start to melt and once that happens, it's very dangerous to refreeze them. It's already been more than an hour."
"The street is closed and the businesses are concerned ... [because] you could stand to lose a lot."
Gradual restoration in the works

Residents of Andorra and parts of France bordering Spain were also reporting being hit by the blackout. Further outages have been reported as far as Belgium, according to the latest information.
The electricity service has since been restored in France after some areas suffered a partial outage, sources from the national grid manager RTE said, as quoted by the Spanish news agency Efe.
The sources added that RTE is exploring ways to relocate the electricity to help reconnect Spain. The Basque Country has also had its power restored, according to reports.
By Monday afternoon, Red Eléctrica stated that it had begun gradually restoring power in both the north and south of Spain. However, the process of getting everyone back on the grid might take between 6 and ten hours for technical reasons, it added.
According to Red Eléctrica, electricity consumption across Spain dropped by 50% at around 12:30 pm on Monday, indicating the widespread scale of what the company said was an "exceptional and completely extraordinary" blackout.
The cause is yet unclear. Endesa and Iberdrola, Spain's two major electricity providers, continue to investigate the incident.
Domestic media said in the immediate aftermath of the blackout that it might be related to issues with the European electric grid, which affected national grids in the Iberian Peninsula.

A fire in the south-west of France, on the Alaric mountain, which damaged a high-voltage power line between Perpignan and eastern Narbonne, has also been identified as a possible cause, Portugal's national electric company REN said.
Reports on a rare atmospheric phenomenon which have also been circulating have been denied by REN to [Portuguese] private channel SIC.
Meanwhile, the Spanish National Intelligence Centre has not ruled out the possibility of a cyberattack, while the Portuguese government has also suggested the same.
However, "no evidence has yet been identified that points to a cyberattack" to justify the blackout, Portugal's National Cybersecurity Centre (CNCS) said in a statement on Monday.
"Such a widespread grid failure is extremely unusual and could be caused by a number of things: there could be a physical fault in the grid which brings down power, a coordinated cyber attack could be behind it, or a dramatic imbalance between demand and supply has tipped the grid system over the edge," Taco Engelaar, managing director at energy infrastructure experts Neara told Euronews.
"If it's a system fault, then the interconnectivity between different regional and national grids could be leading to the large footprint of outages we're seeing today," he added.
"The same goes for a cyber attack - lots of these systems are connected and share assets - taking down one could take down many."

Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said power should be back everywhere in Portugal by Tuesday morning.
Açores and Madeira not affected, same goes for Balearic and Canary Islands. IIRC

Portuguese word of the day: apagão
Castilian word of the day: apagón
meaning blackout or power outage.

[Jacob]

What are the leading theories on the cause(s)?

• Infrastructure breakdown due to poor maintenance?
• Low probability series of freak accident?
• Critical human error?
• Russian hybrid warfare?
• Something else?

[Duque de Bragança]

For now 2, but 4 is not discarded.

[Josquius]

This rare atmospheric phenomenon is reported here.


https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/apr/28/spain-and-portugal-power-outage-cause-cyber-attack-electricity

Pretty crazy 3 countries could be almost entirely knocked out like so.

I hope it was the Russians tbh. Spain could do with the kick into action. Would help prompt Europe to do more to make things more secure too. The next one might have bigger effects.
I havent heard of anyone dying as a result, touch wood?

[mongers]

BBC 'this is no big thing'

I took their website a full three hours to get around to reporting this news.

[Josquius]

BBC 'this is no big thing'

I took their website a full three hours to get around to reporting this news.

And it's just Barry from Carlisle OUTRAGED his holiday to Benidorm has been ruined as the beer pumps have no power.

[Duque de Bragança]

view from Benidorm: 'If you haven't got a drink, you're out of luck'
published at 15:32
15:32
James Kelly
BBC News
In the Spanish resort of Benidorm, Mark England tells us how the lack of power has disrupted his holiday.
He says he and his partner Jonnie had gone for lunch when the lights in the dining room started to go off.
"Then everything went off and the fire alarm started going off and the fire doors started closing," he tells the BBC.
"There's still no power. We're walking down the main street now and the majority of shops are in darkness and shuttered up or have people on the entrances saying you can't come in.
"There's no cash machines, no traffic lights so it's strange. It's kind of bizarre."
Worst of all, at a holiday destination like Benidorm, Mark says bars are unable to serve drinks because of a lack of power to their pumps.
"If you haven't got a drink, you are out of luck," he says.

[Valmy]

Worst of all, at a holiday destination like Benidorm, Mark says bars are unable to serve drinks because of a lack of power to their pumps.
"If you haven't got a drink, you are out of luck," he says.

Will the tragedies of this world never cease?

[Admiral Yi]

What would have been the right way to answer the reporter's question?

[Jacob]

Yeah, I don't see what's wrong with that answer. The question is how the holiday was impacted by the outage, and that question is answered.

[Valmy]

Man you guys are no fun.

[Jacob]

Man you guys are no fun.

 

[Zanza]

We were at the Alhambra in Granada, when the outage happened. First thing I noticed was that the mobile network was down. We could still take a bus back to the city and only then realized that it was a blackout. In a small, dark supermarket we were still able to buy some food for lunch before they shut down. We could still check into our hotel as they had some limited emergency power for their electric doors. In the evening we found a place that served cold food and unlike that poor Englishmen cited above we still got beer and Sangria.

Most Spanish seemed fairly relaxed, having a beer or even putting up a BBQ on the street. Some tourists were rather stressed though. We met a woman that could not open the electric door of her Airbnb and could not reach the landlord either...

Power only came back here at 4:30am.

[celedhring]

I was walking my parents' dog in the morning, and noticed my cell signal went out. Didn't think much of it at the moment, but then I saw people mingling around nervously and stopping the cops. When I came back home, discovered that power was down in all the country.

Turned on the radio, and spent the afternoon reading until power came back on in the evening. Most relaxing Monday in a while 

[Josquius]