The worst power blackout in Spain’s recent history has affected, since noon local time, millions of citizens throughout the country as well as Portugal. The power cut has paralyzed the normal functioning of infrastructures, telecommunications, roads, train stations, airports, stores, and buildings.
Hospitals have not been impacted as they are using generators. There is still no official explanation for the massive blackout. Authorities have not ruled out a cyberattack as both the Spanish and Portuguese governments investigate the cause.
Red Eléctrica, the public company that operates the national electricity grid in Spain, emphasized the unprecedented nature of the situation: “Such an event has never occurred before; it is an absolutely exceptional incident.” According to the grid operator, starting at 1:00 p.m. (7:00 a.m. EST), efforts began to restore voltage in the northern and southern parts of the peninsula, “which is key to progressively restoring the electricity supply.” Eduardo Prieto, Director of Operations Services at Red Eléctrica, stated that full service recovery will take between six and ten hours, which, if confirmed, would mean that power would be restored across the country between nine in the evening and one in the morning.
The outage has suddenly set Spain back to the 19th century. Traffic lights out of service, traffic jams forming across the country, pedestrians wandering around cities without public transportation, desperate families trying to communicate with their loved ones, passengers left stranded without trains or flights, canceled medical appointments, rescues underway in subway stations and elevators, lines forming outside small shops due to supermarket closures… These were some of the scenes left by the unprecedented event on Monday.
The urgency of the incident has led the authorities to make it the only topic on the agenda. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez held a meeting at the Control Center of Red Eléctrica, where Deputy Prime Minister Sara Aagesen and several other ministers were also present. The National Security Council has also called a meeting. At the regional level, local governments are also mobilizing. Catalan regional premier Salvador Illa held a meeting with the crisis cabinet at the Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya. Other regions, such as Andalusia and the Basque Country, have done the same.
Red Eléctrica indicated that the process of restoring the supply will “involve the gradual energization of the transmission network as the generation units are reconnected.” They added that they continue “working to restore the supply.” For his part, Prieto said that the company’s technicians are “focused on restoring the supply so that the impact on society is as minimal as possible.” However, he did not want to point to possible causes: “There is no information on the cause of the incident, and we cannot speculate about its origin. Everything will be analyzed in detail.”
Citizens from all Spanish regions and from Portugal reported widespread power outages shortly after noon. According to major Spanish electric companies, no explanation has yet been provided for the blackouts. The Adif railway network experienced voltage losses, leading to the suspension of train traffic across the country. Renfe announced through its social media accounts that there has been no train movement or departures from stations since 12:30. Various airlines reported disruptions at airports such as Madrid-Barajas and Barcelona-El Prat as power supply is being restored. Air traffic controllers have reported traffic regulations or reductions at the two major hubs on the peninsula: Madrid-Barajas and Lisbon. Confusion reigns among airlines and travelers.
The blackout is also affecting telecommunications. There are widespread problems making phone calls, and the WhatsApp messaging service is operating at reduced capacity. Major telecommunications companies like Telefónica and Masorange are investigating the situation and working to restore service as quickly as possible. The internet can work for a few hours without electricity, but not for much longer. While data centers are protected by their own backup generators, the network relies on intermediate systems that have a shorter autonomy.
