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From the Associated Press: An unprecedented blackout brought much of Spain and Portugal to a standstill Monday, stopping trains, cutting phone service and shutting down traffic lights and ATMs for millions of people across the Iberian Peninsula.
Spanish power distributor Red Eléctrica declined to speculate on the cause of the power outage that began around 12:30 p.m. Madrid time and said restoring power fully could take six to 10 hours. Head of operations Eduardo Prieto told journalists it was unprecedented, calling the event “exceptional and extraordinary.” By 8:35 p.m., only 35% of energy demand had been restored, Prieto said hours later.
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said a “strong oscillation” in the European grid was behind the outage but the cause was still being determined. He asked the public to refrain from speculation, and urged people to call emergency services only if really necessary.
The Portuguese National Cybersecurity Center in a statement said there was no sign the outage was due to a cyberattack. Teresa Ribera, European Commission executive vice president in charge of promoting clean energy, indicated the same to journalists in Brussels and called the power outage “one of the most serious episodes recorded in Europe in recent times.”
The outage has caused chaos everywhere, and authorities don’t seem to have any answers as to what caused it.
Spain’s Transportation Minister Oscar Puente announced on X, “Attention. It is not expected that medium- and long-distance trains will resume service today. Therefore, all passengers who had planned a trip of this nature will not be able to do so. We are working to ensure that, once the power supply is restored, we can resume these services, which will no longer be possible today.”
Atención. En el día de hoy no es previsible que se recupere la circulación de trenes de Media y Larga distancia. Por ello todos los usuarios que tuvieran previsto un desplazamiento de estas características no podrán hacerlo. Trabajamos para que, una vez se recupere el suministro…
— Oscar Puente (@oscar_puente_) April 28, 2025
A train dependent on electricity was seen left stranded out in the middle of nowhere.
Authorities explained, “The 230 passengers on a train stopped by the #apagón near Venta de Baños (Palencia) have been given water. Assistance has also been provided in the evacuation of a person with multiple sclerosis.”
A los 230 pasajeros de un tren parado por el #apagón en las cercanías de Venta de Baños (Palencia) se les ha suministrado agua. Además, se ha colaborado en la evacuacion de una persona con esclerosis.#AuxiliosGC pic.twitter.com/GLWWOGbkyW
— Guardia Civil (@guardiacivil) April 28, 2025
Good grief. Train passengers in Spain get stuck in the middle of nowhere during power outage. pic.twitter.com/QAZS6KJtBN
— Juanita Broaddrick (@atensnut) April 28, 2025
The power outage caused chaos in the streets:
Long lines of traffic stretched through Madrid as parts of Spain and neighboring European countries were hit by a massive, unprecedented power outage that knocked out subway networks, phone lines, traffic lights and ATMs. https://t.co/C0qK4856fe pic.twitter.com/PmEOPuUekw
— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 28, 2025
The airport came to a standstill as well:
#blackout in Europe. This is Madrid airport. pic.twitter.com/yjrMjG1F7f
— GV (@gpvarel) April 28, 2025
When the power was restored Monday night in Lisbon, Portugal, people can be heard cheering.
Power is back on in Lisbon Portugal people where actually cheering when the lights turned on again.#spainpower #Spain #Portugal #blackoutEurope #Blackout #Lisbon #Madrid #poweroutage pic.twitter.com/ByNabUrqUU
— JUST IN | World (@justinbroadcast) April 28, 2025
Celebrations were also heard in Madrid when power returned there.
The moment power returned to Madrid after a 10-hour outage.
Would think Spain had scored in a World Cup 😅 pic.twitter.com/v53wKmONCA
— Connor Joyce (@connorjoyceb) April 28, 2025
READ MORE from the Associated Press.
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