Major Power Outage Disrupts Spain and Portugal, Affecting Essential Services and Infrastructure

A significant power outage affected multiple regions in Spain and Portugal on Monday, causing widespread disruptions. The outage occurred at approximately 12:30 p.m. local time, impacting essential services and infrastructure. Spain’s public broadcaster RTVE reported that the blackout left its newsroom, the Spanish parliament in Madrid, and metro stations across the country without power.

The Spanish power grid operator, Red Electrica, announced that it was collaborating with energy companies to restore electricity. The company indicated that efforts to reinstate power were underway, focusing initially on the northern and southern regions of Spain. In Portugal, the power outage led to the closure of metro services in Lisbon and Porto, and train operations were halted. Portuguese police reported that traffic lights were also affected nationwide.

In response to the situation, E-Redes, a Spanish electricity grid monitoring company, stated that it was working on reestablishing connections in phases. The power outage caused significant traffic disruptions, particularly in Madrid’s city center, where traffic lights ceased functioning, leading to traffic jams, as reported by Cadena Ser Radio station. The Spanish generator RedElectrica confirmed that the Iberian Peninsula was impacted and that the incident was under assessment.

Additionally, Spanish radio stations reported that parts of the Madrid underground were being evacuated due to the power failure. The incident highlights the vulnerability of critical infrastructure to power disruptions and underscores the importance of coordinated efforts to restore services promptly.