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.
‘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 “exceptional and completely extraordinary” blackout.
The cause is yet unclear. Endesa and Iberdrola, Spain’s two major electric companies, Endesa and Iberdrola, are investigating the incident.
Domestic media are reporting issues with the European electric grid, which affected national grids in the Iberian Peninsula, however.
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.
“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.”
