Power failure cripples extensive regions of Spain and Portugal on Monday. Here's a rundown of the current state of events.
In a massive disruption on Monday, power outages crippled wide swathes of Spain, Portugal, and even parts of southern France. Traffic lights gridlocked cities and transit systems, airports were thrown into chaos, and the rhythm of daily life ground to a halt in those affected areas.
European Council President Antonio Costa, former Prime Minister of Portugal, took to social media to provide updates, assuring the public that grid operators were tirelessly working to identify the cause of the outage and restore power. Costa stated that there was no evidence of any sinister acts or cyberattacks at the moment.
Hours earlier, around 10:30 GMT, power began to flicker and fade across the Iberian Peninsula and elsewhere. Major urban areas like Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, and Porto were hit hard, while the Canaries and Balearic Islands miraculously escaped unscathed. Southern France briefly experienced complications but quickly regained power.
A dropped 26,000 megawatts of electricity use plunged portions of Spain and Portugal into darkness, causing delays and disruptions at airports, shutdowns of public transit systems, and halting the Madrid Open tennis tournament. Authorities in Valencia, Spain reported that chaos reigned, with trains at a standstill, traffic lights out, and cities plunged into near-darkness.
The aftermath was a flurry of activity, with firefighters performing more than 200 "elevator interventions" in Madrid alone, while health services dealt with a wave of respiratory issues and anxiety attacks. In Lisbon, citizens rushed to grocery stores to stockpile necessities like water and non-perishable goods.
Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro pointed fingers at Spain, suggesting that the outage originated in their borders. However, the exacter cause remains elusive, with Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez refusing to rule out the possibility of a cyberattack or any other plausible explanation. The European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) currently favors a faulty cable as the likely culprit, but experts warn that an overabundance of renewable energy sources, such as solar power, might also play a role in future blackouts.
As the afternoon wore on, power began to return to certain regions of Spain, while Portugal initiated the restoration process with the resumption of energy production at key facilities. The recovery was slow, with estimated restoration times ranging from six to ten hours. Yet as the day came to a close, both nations held out hope of a return to normalcy.
- European Council President and former Prime Minister of Portugal, Antonio Costa, expressed on social media that grid operators are working diligently to identify the cause of the widespread power outages affecting Spain, Portugal, and parts of France.
- During the power outages, there were reports of health issues and anxiety attacks in affected areas, with health services trying to address the surge of respiratory problems.
- The power outages resulted in various sports events being disrupted, such as the Madrid Open tennis tournament and delays at airports and public transit systems.
- The Portuguese Prime Minister, Luis Montenegro, accused Spain of causing the power outages, but the exact cause remains unclear, with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez not ruling out cyber attacks or other explanations.
- Authorities in regions of Spain are restoring power slowly after the outages, with estimated restoration times ranging from six to ten hours, offering hope for a return to normalcy in the evening.
