Yesterday, at around 13:00 hrs in Spain and 14:00 hrs in Portugal, a widespread blackout occurred, shutting down businesses and government departments across both countries. Most of the Iberian territory was left without electricity, which began to be gradually restored later in the evening. Power was restored to most of Spain by around 4:00 a.m. on Tuesday, while in Portugal it was restored slightly earlier.
In a speech given from Madrid, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said that the outage was caused at around 12:33 HRS when 15 gigawatts of electricity generation were suddenly lost from Spain’s national distribution network in just five seconds, according to Red Eléctrica, the country’s grid operator. This loss equated to approximately 60% of the national demand at that moment.
The widespread blackout triggered a rush of people buying fuel supplies with many fuel stations having run out of fuel by late evening. Premier Sanchez said that oil reserves will be released to ease the situation. Most services and businesses were shut down including most supermarkets. Thousands of people were stuck in planes or trains when the blackout occurred. Police and security forces were also dispatched with a high alert notice. Most internet services were also shut down.
The power outage on April 28, 2025, marked the most extensive and prolonged electricity blackout in Spain and Portugal since both nations transitioned to democracies.
The Spanish Prime Minister stressed that there is no conclusive evidence on the causes of the blackout and investigations are still ongoing. Residents in Madrid cheered when the electricity was switched on again.
Newsroom
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