Spain and Portugal experienced a severe power outage on Monday, bringing public transportation to a standstill, causing massive traffic snarls, and delaying flights.
Utility companies from both nations worked tirelessly to restore the grid to normalcy. Emergency cabinet meetings were immediately organized by the Spanish and Portuguese governments to address the disruption, which utility operators pinpointed to a significant grid failure. Portugal’s REN and Spain’s Red Electrica confirmed they were executing a phased plan to reinstate electricity, collaborating with European energy suppliers for support.
Reports from Spanish media highlighted the chaos in Madrid, where evacuations occurred from the city’s underground system, and traffic congestion ensued due to malfunctioning signals. Many gathered outside office towers, with police actively managing the situation. In Portugal, metro lines in Lisbon and Porto ceased operations, and the nationwide failure of traffic lights exacerbated transportation woes, halting train services as well. Lisbon’s airport was forced to rely on backup generators, while Spain’s airport authority, AENA, noted flight delays at various airports.
In a recent statement, Red Electrica described ongoing efforts to “gradually” restore electricity across Spain and Portugal, mentioning that voltage has been re-established in some areas, enabling a partial resumption of services for consumers.
Rumors of a cyber-attack were dismissed by the European Council President, who explained that the outage was due to extreme temperature fluctuations in central Spain, leading to “induced atmospheric vibration” in the 400kV high voltage lines. This resulted in synchronization issues among the European electrical systems, causing widespread disturbances. Spain has yet to formally address these findings.
