- Large regions of Spain and Portugal were hit by a massive power outage, affecting millions of people.
- By Monday night, over one-fifth of the lost power in Spain had been replenished.
- The cause of the blackout is yet to be determined, but authorities say there is no sign of a cyberattack.
The Spanish government declared a state of emergency after a major power outage hit large regions of Spain and Portugal early Monday.
The blackout brought major portions of the two countries to a standstill, stopping trains, cutting phone service and internet connection, and shutting down lights and ATMs for tens of millions of people across the Iberian Peninsula, per The Associated Press.
As of 7:30 p.m. in Spain on Monday, one-fifth of the lost power had been restored, per NBC.
The power first went out at 11:33 a.m. local time.
“The power supply is being progressively restored in all electrical zones of the territory, with 45% of the substation parks in the transmission network already energized,” said Red Eléctrica, the corporation which operates Spain’s national electricity grid.
Spain pulled some electricity from Morocco and France to help restore power to the northern and southern parts of the country, per the AP. Spain is also increasing production from its hydroelectric and combined cycle thermal power plants.
Parts of France were also briefly affected by the outage, according to The New York Times. Some homes in France’s Basque region lost electricity for a time, but it has all been restored.
This marks the second major power outage in Europe in under six weeks, following the London Heathrow Airport being shut down due to a blackout on March 20, per The Associated Press.
According to NBC, the outage also caused the Madrid Open professional tennis tournament to cancel both day and night operations on Monday.
What caused the blackout in Spain and Portugal?
The cause of the blackout is yet to be officially determined. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said a “strong oscillation” in the European grid was behind the power outage but that they were still looking for the exact cause. Sánchez also asked the public to refrain from speculation on the cause of the blackout.
“It is better not to speculate. We will know the causes. We do not rule out any hypothesis, but now we must focus on the most important thing, which is to restore electricity to our homes,” he added, per NBC.
A statement from the Portuguese National Cybersecurity Center said there was no sign that the blackout was caused by a cyberattack. The European Council echoed this claim.
“At this point, there are no indications of any cyberattack,” António Costa, the president of the European Council, wrote in a post on X.
The European Commission, which is the executive body of the European Union, is monitoring the blackout affecting Spain and Portugal.
The commission, headquartered in Brussels, said there are “protocols in place to restore the functioning of the system,” per NBC. It is also coordinating efforts with Spain and Portugal to restore power and determine the cause of the outage.