Traffic signals stopped functioning at major intersections. Trains halted during the workday. Long queues appeared at A.T.M.s and grocery outlets, where credit card machines failed.
Extensive power outages disrupted daily life for millions in Spain and Portugal (and briefly impacted northern France) on Monday, raising concerns about the cause of these disturbances and when normalcy would resume.
Here’s a summary of the situation.
The cause is still being investigated.
Pedro Sánchez, the Prime Minister of Spain, mentioned that an investigation into the outage’s causes is ongoing.
Portugal’s national electricity provider, E-Redes, referred to an undisclosed “problem within the European electricity grid.”
António Leitão Amaro, a senior official in Portugal, stated there was no proof of a cyberattack. The Portuguese electricity and gas supplier, REN, clarified that an unspecified “atmospheric phenomenon” was not the cause.
Hospitals, banks, and travel were affected in both countries.
Internet and phone connectivity faced significant issues throughout Spain and Portugal, prompting Mr. Sánchez to advise people to limit their cellphone usage.
In Spain, hospitals had to rely on generators, and many banks and schools in Portugal shut down. Spain’s national railway services announced that trains ceased operations across all stations. Subways in cities like Valencia and Madrid were also suspended. The Madrid Open tennis tournament faced interruption. People flocked to stores for groceries and essentials as clerks resorted to pen and paper for cash-only sales.
Diana Alfia, who works at a hostel in Lisbon, noted that some people opted to go to the beach due to limited options, while some tourists trekked miles from the airport to the city because Uber and public transport were unavailable.
“I think everyone is pretty calm, as many are hopeful that things will improve in the coming hours,” she said. “But ultimately, we don’t know.”
When will power be restored?
Authorities indicated they were making efforts to restore power, which had been cut around 11:30 a.m. in Lisbon and 12:30 p.m. in Madrid.
During a public address on Monday evening, Mr. Sánchez did not provide a specific restoration timeline but assured that efforts were being made to restore electricity “soon.”
Spain’s national power company, Red Eléctrica, reported on X that electricity had been restored to numerous regions, including Catalonia, Aragon, the Basque Country, and Andalusia.
According to the Spanish newspaper El País, power began to return in southern cities like Seville and Málaga. Areas in Barcelona and the Basque Country also saw lights coming back on.
The outage had a temporary impact on households in France’s Basque region, but RTE, the French electric grid operator, confirmed that “all power has since been restored.”
By Monday evening, parts of Portugal, including Porto, began to see power restoration, according to REN, the country’s electricity and gas provider.
The company issued a statement indicating that restoring electricity in Portugal might take some time. Spain can depend on power supplies from France and Morocco to aid in restoration, while Portugal has to rely on its own resources.
The outages coincided with soaring temperatures.
Spain’s meteorological agency, AEMET, reported that temperatures ranged from 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit at the time of the outages. By day’s end, temperatures had risen to between 82 and 87 degrees.
These temperatures were above the usual range: typically, April temperatures in Spain hover around 64 degrees in the central and northern regions and about 70 degrees in the south.
When asked if the outages were related to the heat, Bruno Silva, a spokesperson for REN, expressed skepticism. “No, I hope not,” he remarked.
Other European outages have disrupted daily life.
In 2003, over 50 million people in Italy experienced a blackout that lasted nearly a full day after a line connecting Switzerland and Italy became overloaded. This incident was regarded as the worst blackout Italy had experienced since World War II.
In 2006, a power overload in northwestern Germany left 10 million people without electricity for a short period.
Last year, much of the Balkans faced power outages for several hours during a heatwave with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius, or over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
European power grids are interconnected, meaning that issues in one area can lead to outages in another country.
Nazaneen Ghaffar contributed reporting.
