Massive power outage in Spain and Portugal disrupts daily life and travel

Spain and Portugal face widespread power outages, halting transport and communications as authorities race to restore services.

People shop for groceries during a power outage on April 28, 2025, in Lisbon, Portugal. Photo by Adri Salido/Getty Images

By Anna Fadiah and Hayu Andini

A massive power outage in Spain and Portugal on Monday afternoon caused widespread chaos, halting train services, clogging major roads, grounding flights, and trapping people inside elevators. As officials scrambled to investigate the cause of the unprecedented blackout, millions of residents across the Iberian Peninsula found themselves suddenly cut off from digital communications and daily routines.

The massive power outage in Spain and Portugal struck around 12:30 p.m. local time (1030 GMT), leaving ordinary citizens confused and disconnected. Many, like 19-year-old construction worker Carlos Candori, were forced to abandon their plans for the day as essential services ground to a halt.

"People were stunned, because this had never happened in Spain," Candori told AFP after he was forced to exit the paralyzed Madrid metro system. "There's no phone coverage, I can't call my family, my parents, nothing: I can't even go to work."

Trains halted, roads jammed, and communication lost

Across Madrid and other major cities, the Spain Portugal blackout led to streets filling with crowds desperately trying to catch a mobile signal. Others rushed to banks to withdraw cash, fearing prolonged disruptions. Many found themselves trapped in elevators, parking garages, or subway tunnels as the sudden loss of electricity left entire systems frozen.

The chaos extended to the transportation sector, with Spain's national railway operator Adif announcing the suspension of all train services across the country. The usually busy streets of Madrid and Barcelona were choked with vehicles struggling to navigate intersections without functioning traffic lights. Police officers were deployed to direct traffic manually, and authorities urged residents to stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary.

The blackout’s impact was felt in the world of sports as well, with play at the prestigious Madrid Open tennis tournament suspended for the remainder of the day.

Nuclear plants and airports affected

Spain’s Nuclear Safety Council (CSN) confirmed that nuclear power plants automatically shut down operations as a safety precaution once the blackout occurred. Diesel generators kicked in to maintain these facilities in a "safe condition," CSN stated.

Air travel was similarly disrupted. Flights to and from Madrid, Barcelona, and Lisbon faced delays, with European air traffic agency Eurocontrol noting that the full extent of flight cancellations or postponements was still unknown as the situation evolved.

Portugal’s energy grid operator REN stated that the entire Iberian Peninsula, home to nearly 60 million people, was affected by the Iberian Peninsula power failure. REN added that it was "impossible to predict when the situation will be normalized."

Southwest France also briefly suffered power losses, although services there were quickly restored, according to France’s high-voltage grid operator RTE. The operator noted that the cause of the blackout involving multiple countries "remains to be determined."

Government response and ongoing investigation

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez convened an emergency meeting with key officials to address the crisis, according to his office via Telegram. Meanwhile, the European Commission confirmed it was maintaining close contact with Spanish and Portuguese authorities, while European Council President António Costa assured the public that there was no evidence suggesting a cyberattack.

Eduardo Prieto, head of operations for Spain's national grid operator Red Eléctrica, stressed the importance of avoiding premature conclusions. "We cannot speculate right now on the causes," he told reporters, adding that restoration work was underway but could take between six and ten hours if all went smoothly.

By late Monday afternoon, Red Eléctrica reported that electricity was beginning to flow again in parts of northern, southern, and western Spain, offering a glimmer of hope for millions still without power.

Life disrupted across cities

The blackout turned daily life upside down in cities such as Barcelona, where both locals and tourists found themselves stranded without transportation options. Student Laia Montserrat was among many forced to abandon her school day after the power outage plunged her campus into darkness.

"As the internet wasn't coming back, they told us to go home... but there weren't trains either," Montserrat recounted. "Now we don't know what to do."

Social media quickly filled with images and videos showing metro stations in Madrid enveloped in darkness. Stranded passengers used their smartphone flashlights to navigate dim hallways and platforms, creating eerie scenes throughout the capital.

Internet monitoring group NetBlocks reported a sharp and sudden drop in web activity, estimating that internet connectivity in Spain had plunged to just 17 percent of normal levels during the blackout.

Hospitals faced major challenges as well. Spain's El País newspaper reported that while critical care units maintained power through backup generators, other hospital sections were left without electricity, complicating patient care.

Context of recent global blackouts

The massive power outage in Spain and Portugal adds to a troubling pattern of large-scale blackouts impacting countries worldwide in recent years. In 2023, Tunisia suffered a similar widespread power failure. Sri Lanka experienced one in August 2020, while Argentina and Uruguay were both hit by a massive blackout in June 2019. One of the largest recorded outages occurred in India in July 2012, affecting hundreds of millions of people.

Despite the restoration efforts underway, questions remain over the resilience of national energy grids in an increasingly interconnected and digitally dependent world. The authorities in Spain and Portugal have pledged full investigations to determine whether the outage was caused by technical faults, sabotage, or other underlying vulnerabilities.

As repairs continue, residents across the Iberian Peninsula are bracing for a long road to recovery after a historic and deeply unsettling day without power.