Sunita Somvanshi
A sweeping power outage plunged Spain and Portugal into darkness on Monday, causing widespread chaos across the Iberian Peninsula as millions found themselves without electricity in one of Europe’s largest blackouts in recent memory.
The blackout began around 10:30 UTC (12:30 pm in Spain, 11:30 am in Portugal) on April 28, 2025, hitting major cities including Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, Seville, and Valencia. Parts of southern France were also briefly affected.
“This is something that has never happened before,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said, noting that the country lost 15 gigawatts of electricity generation — about 60% of national demand — in just five seconds.
Life Grinds to a Halt
The sudden loss of power threw daily life into disarray. Traffic lights stopped working, creating gridlock in city centers. Police officers in reflective vests stepped in to direct traffic at intersections. Madrid’s mayor urged residents to “keep their movements to an absolute minimum” to keep roads clear for emergency services.
Public transportation systems shut down completely. Metro services in Madrid and Lisbon came to a standstill, with passengers trapped in tunnels requiring evacuation. All train traffic across Spain was halted, with about 35,000 passengers needing rescue from stranded trains. By Monday evening, 11 trains remained stranded in remote areas.
At airports, flights operated on backup power but faced significant delays and cancellations. By Monday evening, 96 flights from Portugal and 45 from Spain had been canceled.
Hospitals switched to emergency generators but suspended routine operations. Emergency workers in Madrid responded to 286 buildings to free people trapped in elevators.
The blackout crippled communication systems, with mobile networks and internet services severely impacted. Internet traffic plummeted by 90% in Portugal and 80% in Spain compared to previous-week levels. Banks reported ATM screens going blank, while card payment systems failed, forcing stores to accept cash only.
“No one understood anything. Businesses were closed and buses were full,” said Sarah Jovovich, who described the scene as “quite chaotic” when the power went out in a Madrid metro station.
Scramble for Essentials
As the hours passed, people rushed to secure essential supplies. Supermarkets saw long queues and emptying shelves as residents stocked up on food and water. Battery-powered radios, torches, and candles quickly sold out in local shops.
“Nothing’s working. We’ve got stuff for the baby but nothing else,” said Reyes Paterna, a Madrid resident worried about her young children and elderly mother.
In Barcelona, 23-year-old English teacher Ellie Rice walked for 80 minutes to get home due to the “complete collapse” of public transport. She found supermarket shelves nearly empty and candles sold out.
“There is a lot of panic on the streets, people are very visibly worried,” Rice said.
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Power Slowly Returns
By Monday night, about eight hours after the outage began, power started returning to parts of the Iberian Peninsula.
Spanish Prime Minister Sánchez announced that electricity had been restored to 50% of the country, while Spain’s grid operator indicated that about 35% of demand (9,200 megawatts) had been reconnected.
In Portugal, power was gradually returning to various municipalities, including parts of Lisbon. By Monday evening, 85 out of 89 power substations were back online, and electricity had been restored to 750,000 customers.
The Spanish Interior Ministry declared a state of emergency and deployed 30,000 police officers across the country to maintain order as the outage stretched into the evening.
What Caused the Blackout?
The exact cause remains under investigation, with several possible explanations emerging:
Portuguese grid operator REN suggested the outage might have stemmed from “extreme temperature variations in the interior of Spain” causing “anomalous oscillations in the very high voltage lines,” a phenomenon known as “induced atmospheric vibration.”
Spain’s grid operator blamed a connection failure with France that triggered a knock-on effect. “The extent of the loss of power was beyond what European systems are designed to handle and caused a disconnection of the Spanish and French grids, which in turn led to the collapse of the Spanish electric system,” said Eduardo Prieto from Red Eléctrica.
Kristian Ruby from Eurelectric, a trade body representing Europe’s power industry, told BBC Radio 4 that a “specific incident with an interconnector between France and Spain” occurred, meaning “the Spanish grid was disconnected from the broader European grid.”
Some reports suggested a possible link to a fire on a mountain in southwest France that may have affected a high-voltage power cable.
Both Spanish and Portuguese officials emphasized there was “no indication” of a cyberattack, though investigations are ongoing.
The massive blackout highlighted the vulnerability of interconnected power grids in Europe. Power outages of this magnitude are extremely rare in the region. In 2003, Italy experienced a 12-hour nationwide outage due to a problem with a hydroelectric power line between Italy and Switzerland. In 2006, an overloaded power network in Germany caused electricity cuts across parts of Europe and as far as Morocco.
As power gradually returns to homes and businesses across the Iberian Peninsula, the focus will shift to preventing similar incidents in the future and strengthening grid resilience across Europe.
