A significant power outage occurred across Spain, impacting parts of Portugal and northern France on Monday afternoon. This incident disrupted essential services and led to widespread chaos throughout the Iberian Peninsula. Spanish and Portuguese officials are currently investigating the cause of the outage, which began around 12:30 p.m. local time. According to electricity provider Red Eléctrica, power restoration efforts commenced shortly after the outage was detected, with partial electricity being restored to some regions by approximately 1:00 p.m.
In the meantime, residents faced various inconveniences, including traffic disruptions due to non-functional traffic lights, the closure of grocery stores, and other essential services. Authorities advised the public to avoid unnecessary travel and to contact emergency services only in critical situations. In Portugal, police echoed this warning, indicating that street and traffic lights may also fail.
Red Eléctrica reported that over one-fifth of the peninsula had begun to see power restoration, with full restoration expected between 9:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m. local time. While hospitals are operating on backup generators, other sectors have been significantly affected. Transportation services, including trains and flights, were suspended. The Spanish train operator Renfe announced that all train services were halted due to the outage, while Portuguese airline TAP Air advised passengers against heading to the airport as flights remained grounded.
The outage also led to the cancellation of events, including the Madrid Open tennis tournament. As the situation develops, further updates from the relevant authorities and service providers are anticipated.