Spain, Portugal hit with severe power outage, causing travel chaos

A massive power outage hit Spain and Portugal on Monday, knocking out traffic lights, ATMs and phone lines and forcing the evacuation of subway systems in both countries, reports said.

A graph on Spain’s electricity network website showing demand across the country indicated a steep drop around 12:15 p.m. local time from 27,500 megawatts to near 15,000, according to the Associated Press.

“It looks like it was a problem with the distribution network, apparently in Spain. It’s still being ascertained,” Portugal Cabinet Minister Leitão Amaro told national news agency Lusa.

The exact cause of the outage remains unclear. The Portuguese National Cybersecurity Center issued a statement saying there was no sign the outage was due to a cyberattack.

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Video that aired on Spanish television showed people evacuating metro stations in Madrid and empty stations with trains stopped in Barcelona. Spain’s parliament also was left in the dark, public broadcaster RTVE reported.

The ATP Tour said play at the Madrid Open tennis tournament was suspended due to the power outage.

In Portugal, several Lisbon subway cars were evacuated, courts stopped work and ATMs and electronic payment systems were affected. Traffic lights in Lisbon also stopped working.

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Both the Portuguese and Spanish governments convened emergency cabinet meetings to address the situation, according to Reuters.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez also visited grid operator Red Eléctrica to follow efforts at restoring power.

Eduardo Prieto, head of operations at Red Eléctrica, told journalists it was unprecedented, calling the event “exceptional and extraordinary.”

“We’re beginning to recover power in the north and south of the peninsula, which is key to gradually meeting the electricity supply,” Red Eléctrica wrote on X. “This process involves the gradual energization of the transmission grid as the generating units are connected.”