Power Largely Restored as Spain and Portugal Deal with Aftermath of Major Outage

It seems like the Iberian Peninsula is still grappling with the aftermath of a massive power outage that affected both Spain and Portugal, with the potential cause still under investigation. The blackout, which occurred on Monday, left tens of millions without electricity and caused major disruptions, particularly in transport networks, while business operations were stalled. Given the vast scale of the power loss, the impact has been significant, including transportation chaos, traffic jams, and subway failures.

Spanish authorities, including Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, have explained that the grid lost 15 gigawatts of power within just five seconds, which represents a major portion of the country’s electricity demand. This loss triggered cascading effects across the region, including parts of France.

Power has been mostly restored, with 99% of Spain’s grid back online, although transport services remain disrupted, especially train networks. In Portugal, power was restored by Monday evening, and people even celebrated as their lights came back on.

The question of what exactly caused the blackout remains unclear, with Spain being primarily blamed by Portugal’s Prime Minister Luis Montenegro. The investigation into the root cause might take weeks, but for now, both countries are working to deal with the ongoing disruptions.

As the situation continues to unfold, Spain and Portugal are ramping up their emergency responses. Spain’s Interior Ministry has declared a state of emergency in several regions, including Andalucia, Extremadura, Murcia, La Rioja, and Madrid. In the aftermath of the massive blackout, local authorities, including Madrid’s Mayor José Luis Martinez Almeida, have urged residents to minimize travel and only reach out to emergency services in urgent situations. Additionally, the mayor asked for roads to be cleared to allow emergency personnel to move freely.

In Portugal, Prime Minister Luis Montenegro has declared an energy crisis, with grid operators noting that restoring power fully will be a “complex operation.” Portugal’s authorities are also scrambling to deal with the aftermath and ensure recovery, although no clear explanation has been provided regarding the exact cause of the outage.

While concerns about a possible cyberattack have been raised, European Council President Antonio Costa emphasized that there were “no indications” of such an attack, which could provide some reassurance even as investigations into the cause continue. The situation remains critical, and both countries are working on coordinating their recovery efforts, with Spain’s emergency services provider urging the declaration of a national emergency.

João Faria Conceição, the head of Portugal’s grid operator, Redes Energéticas Nacionais (REN), highlighted that Portugal was particularly vulnerable during the blackout because it relies on electricity imports from Spain during the morning hours. Due to the time difference, with Spain being one hour ahead, the neighboring country’s solar plants produce cheaper electricity, which Portugal typically imports to meet demand.

However, this reliance left Portugal in a precarious position when the blackout hit, as it had no immediate backup option for emergency power supplies. While Spain was able to get support from neighboring countries, including France and Morocco, Portugal didn’t have any such resources to turn to, exacerbating the crisis. This dependency on Spain for electricity highlights the challenges of interconnected power grids, especially during major disruptions.

The blackout on Monday caused widespread disruption across southern Europe, hitting major cities like Madrid, Lisbon, Barcelona, Seville, and Valencia, which are vital hubs for transport, finance, and tourism. As two of the busiest airports in the European Union in 2023, Madrid and Barcelona faced significant operational challenges during the power outage.

In the absence of electricity, everyday routines were abruptly suspended. Businesses switched to cash payments as card systems failed, while police officers had to direct traffic using hand signals due to non-functioning traffic lights. Restaurants, supermarkets, and shops closed their doors, and many residents rushed to stock up on essentials, including canned goods. In Madrid, firefighters responded to 174 “elevator interventions” as people were trapped in stalled elevators across the city.

Fortunately, the worst-case scenarios were largely avoided in the early hours of the blackout. Spain’s nuclear power plants were declared operational and secure, ensuring the country’s nuclear energy infrastructure remained intact. Similarly, Portugal’s National Institute for Medical Emergencies activated its contingency plans, using backup generators to maintain its phone and IT systems. Spain’s health ministry took similar precautions to ensure that hospitals could continue functioning despite the power loss. While the initial hours of the blackout were chaotic, these emergency measures helped prevent more severe consequences.

Travel was one of the hardest-hit sectors during the blackout. Major airports across the region, including those in Madrid and Lisbon, experienced significant delays and cancellations, leaving travelers scrambling to adjust their plans. Online flight trackers showed that many frequent departures were suddenly halted after midday. Portugal’s national airline, TAP Air Portugal, even advised passengers not to travel to the airport until further notice due to the disruption.

Ellie Kenny, a holidaymaker stuck in Lisbon’s Humberto Delgado airport, described the scene: hundreds of people were standing in the dark, with no air conditioning or running water. Shops were only accepting cash, adding to the chaos.

In Spain, train services were also suspended. The subway system in Madrid came to a complete halt, with darkness engulfing the tunnels. Videos shared on social media showed blacked-out train cars immobilized on the tracks, and metro entrances were sealed off, further contributing to the sense of disorder across the region.

The blackout also disrupted sporting events, with the Madrid Open being one of the most notable examples. Tennis fans were forced to leave the courts as the outage caused play to be suspended, adding to the mounting chaos in the region.

While most of southern Europe was severely affected, the impact was more sporadic in some areas of southern France, particularly near the Spanish border. Emilie Grandidie, a spokeswoman for France’s electricity transmission operator RTE, confirmed that there was a “small power cut” in the French Basque Country. However, the outage was brief, lasting only a few minutes, and was quickly resolved. Despite this, the ripple effects of the larger Iberian outage were still felt across neighboring regions.

For hours on Monday, tens of millions of people across Spain and Portugal were left in the dark, not only by the power outage but also by uncertainty. Questions about when power would be restored and what caused the blackout dominated conversations, but neither answer was immediately available.

Even after power was largely restored, the damage caused by the massive disruption would take days to fully address. Spain’s transportation minister announced that medium and long-distance train services wouldn’t resume until at least Tuesday. Meanwhile, the impact on flights was severe, with a significant backlog in air travel expected to last through the week as airports scrambled to get operations back on track. The full recovery from Monday’s blackout is likely to be a slow process, with the effects lingering across multiple sectors.