A massive power outage swept across Spain, Portugal and parts of France today. Major cities, including Madrid, Lisbon, Barcelona, Valencia and Seville, were left in darkness after a sudden drop in electricity supply.
Power Outage Across Parts of Europe
Traffic lights stopped working, trains ground to a halt, mobile phone networks went down and electronic payment systems, including ATMs and card machines, became unusable. The scale of the outage affected a combined population of more than 50 million people across Spain and Portugal.
Airports, including Madrid-Barajas—the busiest in Spain—lost electricity, causing flight delays and disrupting airport operations, according to local media outlet El Mundo. Parliament activities in Madrid were suspended, and national newsrooms, including Spain’s RTVE, reported evacuations and blackouts.
Spain’s Red Electrica confirmed a dramatic drop in national electricity demand from 27,500 megawatts to 15,000 megawatts, pointing to a severe system malfunction.
In Portugal, distributor E-Redes cited “a problem with the European electricity system” and admitted to conducting selective power cuts to stabilize the grid, as reported by Expresso. Portuguese Cabinet Minister António Leitão Amaro suggested that the issue appeared to have originated in Spain’s distribution network but emphasized that the exact cause was still under investigation.
Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, appeared to be the only region on the Peninsula that did not experience a power outage. While nearby areas struggled with the blackout, Gibraltar remained unaffected by the sudden disruption to the electrical grid.
Critical Shutdown
The widespread outage severely impacted critical infrastructure. Subway systems in Madrid, Barcelona and Lisbon were shut down. Hospitals across both countries switched to backup generators to maintain essential services.
Portugal’s National Authority for Emergencies and Civil Protection reassured residents that emergency systems were functioning, although many citizens found themselves trapped in elevators or unable to make mobile phone calls. Gas stations and courts in Portugal also ceased operations due to the blackout.
Adding to the disruption, parts of southern France also experienced blackouts, Portuguese distributor E-Redes confirmed. By mid-afternoon, both Red Electrica and E-Redes reported gradual restoration of services. Power was being progressively reinstated across affected regions, including Lisbon, Porto and major Spanish cities in the north and south.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez visited Red Electrica headquarters to monitor recovery efforts, while Portugal’s government convened an emergency meeting at the Prime Minister’s residence to coordinate a national response. Officials in both countries pledged a full investigation to determine the root causes of the blackout.
