Mega blackout leaves Spain, Portugal and France without power

A massive blackout, the cause of which is still unknown, left Spain, Portugal, and parts of southern France without power on Monday, disrupting public services such as railways and metro lines, as well as businesses and individuals.

The power supply was interrupted on the Peninsula around 10:30 GMT on Monday for unknown reasons. According to data from the system operator, Red Eléctrica Española (REE), around that time, when consumption was around 25,184 megawatts, it suddenly plummeted to 12,425 megawatts.

The operator reports that a "zero" has occurred in the peninsular electrical system, which usually indicates a widespread blackout. Subsequently, the peninsular electrical system has begun to recover voltage in the northern and southern areas, according to REE.

However, the full recovery of the Spanish electricity system could take between six and ten hours, as Eduardo Prieto, Director of Grid Operation Services, acknowledged that this is an "absolutely exceptional" incident.

Redes Energéticas Nacionais (REN), the company responsible for the supply of electricity and gas in Portugal, confirmed that this Monday there was "a massive power outage across the Iberian Peninsula and part of France" and that plans to restore service have been activated.

The blackout has also reached some areas in southern France, which suffered a brief partial power outage, but service has now been restored, sources from the national grid operator, RTE, told EFE. The operator said France can contribute its electricity transmission capacity to the Iberian grid, up to 950 megawatts (MW), as soon as it has the technical capacity to receive it.

Calls for calm and investigation of causes

The details of what caused the power outage are currently unknown, and Red Eléctrica has only indicated that it was due to a sharp fluctuation in the grid's power flow.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, along with his Third Vice President and Minister for Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen, traveled to the Red Eléctrica Control Center to learn about the situation caused by the power outage and called a meeting of the security council.

In Portugal, the National Operations Coordination Center, which brings together all of Portugal's relief agencies, met to review the procedures needed to respond to the blackout.

Portugal's Minister of National Defense, Nuno Melo, urged citizens to remain calm: "The call we must make is a call for calm. We know that this power outage has affected several countries, and we don't know the causes," Melo said in a statement to the press in Coimbra, in the center of the country.

Traffic problems but flights are normal

Traffic lights regulating automobile traffic have stopped working in several areas of Spain, as has the mobile network, and public transportation has also been disrupted.

The Madrid Metro was disrupted due to a power outage, and something similar happened in Barcelona, ​​where the metro and railway services were disrupted, leaving thousands of passengers trapped inside trains, some in tunnels, from where they had to be evacuated.

In Lisbon, metro stations have also closed, and the capital's iconic trams have been left idle in the streets. Emergency services, police, and ambulances were constantly moving through the streets.

This minor chaos hasn't been as severe at Iberian airports. Barcelona Airport operated "completely normally," according to sources from Aena, the Spanish airport operator, thanks to an alternative supply system. According to the flight tracking website Flight Radar, Madrid Airport was closed for departures and arrivals for at least half an hour, but aircraft movement around the airfield subsequently resumed.

The Portuguese port authority, for its part, activated emergency generators at the airports of Porto and Faro, allowing essential operations, and at Lisbon airport, which is operating with more restrictions.

Elevator failures and problems in shops

The power outage has forced the evacuation of many corporate headquarters in Spain, as well as some official institutions, including the Prado Museum, which has forced hundreds of tourists to leave this morning who had come to visit Spain's largest art gallery.

Major Spanish banks continue to operate relatively normally, although some have closed branches early, and card payments have begun to experience the first problems if the data terminals run out of battery or lack access to the telephone network.

And there have also been reports of people getting trapped in elevators.

Following the chaos caused by the blackout, Portugal's National Institute of Medical Emergencies (INEM) urged all citizens to use 112 "only in emergencies, to avoid overloading the system."

This agency "has activated its contingency plan and is operating its telephone and computer systems using generators that have been automatically activated," the agency reported in a statement cited by the Lusa news agency.

In Lisbon, emergency services, police, and ambulances are constantly moving through the streets. In hospitals, such as the Santa Maria Hospital in Lisbon, generators are also running to ensure the operation of operating rooms and intensive care units.

There are also other incidents, such as tourists and residents being locked out of apartments whose doors are opened with electronic chips, and famous fresh seafood restaurants expressing concern about the product spoiling due to lack of refrigeration.