What Caused the Major Power Outage in Spain and Portugal?

Madrid/Lisbon, April 28 (NationPress) A significant power failure impacted both Spain and Portugal on Monday, resulting in extensive regions of both nations being left without electricity and triggering widespread chaos.

The national electricity grid operator of Spain, Red Electrica, confirmed the far-reaching outages throughout the country. The firm announced that it was actively working to restore power and investigate the reasons behind the blackout. "We are dedicating all resources to resolving this issue," Red Electrica stated in a message on X.

In the wake of the outage, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez visited the control center of Red Electrica to monitor recovery operations. His office declared that "the government is committed to uncovering the source and impact of this situation and is allocating all available resources to rectify it promptly."

In Madrid, the immediate repercussions were apparent as traffic lights across the city ceased functioning, leading to significant disarray on the roads. Metro services in Madrid and Barcelona also came to a halt, leaving countless passengers stranded within tunnels.

Spain's national railway operator, Renfe, reported that the national electricity grid went offline at 12:30 p.m. local time, halting train services throughout the nation. "Trains stopped" and there were "no departures" from any stations, the company confirmed.

Reports surfaced of individuals trapped inside elevators within office buildings and residential complexes, as noted by the Xinhua news agency. Marie-Carmen Sanz, a healthcare worker at Madrid's Ramon and Cajal Hospital, mentioned that numerous staff and patients were trapped in elevators at the facility.

In Portugal, the blackout affected cities from north to south, including the capital Lisbon, where daily life came to a sudden stop. Several trams ceased operations in the city center around midday, leading to severe traffic gridlock.

Fernanda Picarra, a tourist from Aveiro, shared her experience after her tram came to an unexpected halt. "Initially, we thought the tram had malfunctioned," she recounted. "We remained on board for an extended period before realizing that multiple trams had also halted. Eventually, the driver instructed everyone to disembark."

Numerous banks, restaurants, and cafés across Lisbon were engulfed in darkness, compelling businesses to shut down and directing large crowds into the streets. Bank employees were seen informing customers that services would remain suspended until power was reinstated.

Taxi driver Pedro, who had his radio tuned to the news, highlighted the magnitude of the blackout. "It's a massive outage - both Spain and Portugal are affected, and it appears France is experiencing issues as well," he mentioned. Pedro, recalling a similar blackout from over 20 years ago, added, "I've been listening to the news all day, but no one seems to have a clear explanation. I just hope normalcy returns soon."

After the power outage, Lisbon's metro system also ceased operations, with reports of passengers stranded in trains. Mobile voice calls were disrupted across parts of Portugal, although data services remained functional.

Authorities in both nations are currently probing the cause of the blackout while efforts to restore full electricity supply are in progress.

The outage briefly affected regions of France, but the French electricity transmission system operator RTE announced on Monday afternoon that all impacted households had regained power.

"In France, homes experienced a short power interruption... All power has been restored," the company stated on its official X account.