Unprecedented Blackout Hits Spain and Portugal: A Chaotic Afternoon
In the middle of the Iberian power outage, our site provided you with essential information and support.
Welcome to the thrilling tale of an afternoon that turned chaotic for millions across Spain and Portugal. On Monday, a massive, unexpected power outage cast shadows over daily life, leaving us all in the dark about the cause.
In the heart of Madrid, our very own, tenacious journalist Maria Muñoz was the first to alert us about this calamity. Buildings were being evacuated, and metro services came to a grinding halt, trapping many commuters underground. Hospitals shifted to emergency modes, while offices were emptied onto the chaotic streets as traffic lights failed, creating gridlock.
But mere minutes after those life-changing messages, communication with Maria vanished. We're still unsure whether she managed to make it home or if she's still stranded in the evacuated office. Hours later, no further contact has been established.
Portugal mirrored Spain's tale of disruption and confusion, with our bureau chief Rita Afonso reporting similar scenes from Lisbon. Rita warned she'd soon be cutting off contact to recharge her devices in her car without power at home. Before long, she too, went silent.
Amidst this calamity, our website teams worked tirelessly to bring you updates and eyewitness accounts. However, communication networks strained under the outage, making our efforts challenging. As a result, several journalists fell silent, their stories left untold.
So far, authorities have remained tight-lipped about the cause of the blackout, fueling anxiety across the Iberian Peninsula. Embroiled in darkness, people wait for answers.
Read more
- The Financial Turmoil: How the Blackout Affected Spain and Portugal's Economies
- Travel Woes: Flight Cancellations and Chaos in Train Networks Across Spain and Portugal
- The European Power Outage: Spain, Portugal, and Parts of France Suffer a Catastrophic Blackout
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The massive blackout that crippled Spain and Portugal on Monday, April 28, 2025, left about 15 gigawatts of power missing from Spain's electricity grid. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez attributed it to a "strong oscillation" in the European electricity grid, but the precise cause is still being investigated[1][2]. By the afternoon on the day of the outage, power was gradually being restored in northern and southern parts of the Iberian Peninsula, with full restoration expected between six to ten hours according to Red Eléctrica[1]. Although speculation about a cyberattack swirled, neither Spanish nor Portuguese officials have confirmed it as the cause, with some officials denying such claims[1][3]. Electricity from Morocco and France was provided to aid restoration efforts[1].
Journalists from Andorra, despite their efforts, also fell silent due to the widespread blackout. Maria Muñoz's current predicament remains unexplained, leaving everyone in the dark about her whereabouts. Meanwhile, investigations continue to uncover the unknown factors leading to the blackout, not only in Spain and Portugal but also in parts of France, adding to the chaotic and politically charged general-news landscape.
