Nationwide power outages said to have been caused by a ‘rare weather phenomenon’ have sparked panic in Spain and Portugal with residents told to stay where they are amid fears that disruption due to blackouts could last up to a week in some areas.
Portugal’s electricity grid operator has warned it is ‘impossible’ to say when the electricity supply will be fully restored, adding that while ‘all resources’ were deployed to resolve the issues, it could still take days.
The operator said that the disruptions to the country’s power supply were the result of a ‘fault in the Spanish electricity grid,’ which was related to a ‘rare atmospheric phenomenon’.
They did not clarify what this meant and Spain’s grid operator has not responded to the claims.
Huge queues have formed outside shops, banks and petrol stations in both countries as residents and tourists are attempting to stockpile and take out cash amid the uncertainty.
Madrid’s Mayor has urged people to stay where they are as they deal with the disaster, while the president of the city’s regional government has called for Spain’s prime minister to activate an emergency plan so soldiers can be deployed.
Power outages gripped Spain at around 12.30 local time, plunging millions into darkness. Spain’s nuclear power plants automatically stopped, but diesel generators were activated to keep them in ‘safe condition’, officials said.
Trains and metro services were shut down, with people stuck in tunnels and on train tracks in both countries, forcing evacuations. Lisbon’s main airport was reportedly shut down temporarily with flights suspended.
People queue for the ATM at downtown Lisbon on April 28 during a massive power cut affecting the entire Iberian peninsula
Shelves were emptied in a supermarket in Portugal as electricity firms warned of days of disruption
Shoppers at a Spanish supermarket fill their baskets by torchlight amid the blackout
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Passengers stand next to a stopped RENFE high-speed AVE train near Cordoba on April 28, 2025, during a massive power cut
A view shows a dark metro station in Madrid during a widespread power outage that struck Spain and Portugal
The subway station lies in darkness during a power outage on April 28, 2025 in Lisbon, Portugal
Customers buy gas bottles in a petrol station during a massive power cut affecting the entire Iberian peninsula and the south of France, in Seville
People queue at a bus stop at Rossio square, after the Lisbon subway has been stopped, in Lisbon on April 28
A view of empty hospital emergency beds at a hospital during a power outage which hit large parts of Spain
People queue for the ATM at downtown Lisbon during a massive power cut
Commuters queue at a bus station after subway closed as a blackout hits Spain and Portugal in Madrid
Police car officers (C) is parked under switched-off traffic lights during a massive power cut affecting the entire Iberian peninsula and the south of France, in Madrid
Drivers wait in line to fill up their vehicles with fuel at a service station in Portugal
People walk between cars with their luggage during a power outage in Madrid
People stand outside the Atocha train station in Madrid after its closure as a massive power outage hits Spain
Pictures show people being evacuated from trains in Spain down tunnels amid the outage
A director at Spain’s electricity grid operator said just before 3pm local time that the outage is ‘exceptional and totally extraordinary’ and will take between six and 10 hours to repair.
Power has since returned to parts of north, south, west of the country, REN said.
The power cuts come just days after Spain’s power grid ran entirely on renewable energy, including wind, solar and hyrdro power, for a whole day for the first time on April 16.
Spanish officials are urgently investigating the cause of the outages and have said they are looking into the possibility of the blackouts being triggered by a devastating cyber attack.
Videos online show railway networks in Spanish cities plunged into chaos, with people being evacuated through tunnels as blackouts hit underground stations and halted trains.
Maddie Sephton, from London, was on the Madrid Metro when the power outage occurred, told Sky News that she was stuck on a train for 20 minutes before a staff member pried the doors open manually.
‘We got on the train and everything was fine. But then everything went dark,’ she said. Passengers had to climb 15 flights of stairs to get out of the metro.
An ex-pat called Lesley, has lived in Spain for 11 years with her husband, told the BBC that they are concerned about the effects of the outages.
‘We are worried about food, water, cash and petrol in case this goes on for a couple of days,’ she said.
‘My husband is driving around now trying to find a petrol station that’s open to get petrol for the generator so that we can plug in the fridge.’
Parts of France also lost power after the outages in Spain and Portugal, the country’s grid operator confirmed. Further outages have been reported as far as Belgium, according to the latest information.
The cause of the outages is not yet clear, with the Spanish government saying it is working to ‘identify the origin’.
A fire on the Alaric mountain in the south-west of France which damaged a high-voltage power line has also been identified as a possible cause, Portugal’s national electric company REN said.
Passengers wait outside Atocha train station during a nationwide power outage
People buy goods at a supermarket in Lisbon amid fears over the effects of the blackout affecting Spain and Portugal
Employees stand in a shop in Burgos, Spain, amid a massive power outage in the country
Pictures on social media show power outages at train stations
Blackouts hit metro systems in Barcelona and Valencia
Huge crowds were seen gathering outside Lisbon airport as the power outages hit
Video showed travellers queuing at a station in Spain amid the power outage
The outage is reported to have forced the closure of tram systems in Spain
A view shows a closed metro station following a power outage in Lisbon
Pictures from Lisbon’s metro system show travellers attempting to use their phones and staff with torches
Airports were also affected, with emergency generators turned on at Porto and Faro airport, but operations ‘limited’ at Lisbon, according to officials.
Parts of Madrid’s sprawling metro system have been evacuated and traffic lights in the capital have stopped working, posing risk on major carriageways.
The outage is also said to have forced the closure of Barcelona’s tram system and stopped some traffic lights in the city from working.
Internet and telephone lines across the country are also down.
Meanwhile play has been suspended at the Madrid Open tennis tournament.
Spanish oil refiner Petronor said all units at its Bilbao oil refinery were shut down, ‘fully ensuring safety conditions, and all emergency systems are operating correctly,’ the company said.
All of Valencia and Barcelona were left without power, Spain’s entire rail network shut down, internet services stopped working and there was chaos on the streets as traffic built up in Madrid and Lisbon.
‘A crisis committee has been set up to manage the situation [in Spain]. At this stage there’s no evidence yet regarding the cause of the massive blackout,’ an official briefed on the situation in Spain told Politico.
‘A cyberattack has not been ruled out and investigations are ongoing,’ they added.
Spain’s INCIBE cybersecurity agency is investigating the possibility of the blackout being triggered by a cyber attack.
A spokesman for the European Union Agency for Cyber Security, said in a statement: ‘We are monitoring the whole thing very closely, right now the investigation is still ongoing and whether it is a cyber attack has not been confirmed yet.’
The Spanish government said it is working to ‘identify the origin’ of the blackouts, with officials saying they are still gathering evidence.
Backup generators have meant Spain’s hospitals have been spared the worst of the power outages, with videos
Some have suspended non-emergency surgeries, however emergency power supplies have kept essential equipment such as ventilators and cardiac monitors running.
A British expat living in Barcelona told MailOnline that ‘nobody seems to know what’s going on’ in Spain ‘because nobody has signal’.
The English teacher said he only found out about the European blackout from British reports.
‘I can get signal on my rooftop, but I can’t get signal down below. One floor down I have nothing,’ they said.
‘The traffic lights are still working… The underground is not working apparently. Lots of parts of the public transport are not working.’
People leave the Atocha train station in Madrid after its closure as a massive power outage hit
Tennis fans are seen after matches were suspended at the Madrid Open due to a power outage
A worker tries unsuccessfully to use her mobile outside a shop after a blackout hit Madrid
A cook at a takeaway restaurant works in a dark kitchen with the aid of phone’s flashlight during a power outage in Madrid
Traffic chaos gripped Lisbon as power outages hit the city
Video shows power briefly turning off at a Spanish hospital before a backup generator kicked in
Closed doors at a Metro station in Madrid after the power outage hit
Spanish railway company Renfe said that all trains have halted and no departures are currently taking place, with a power outage at a ‘national level’.
Spain’s electricity grid operator Red Eléctrica wrote on X: ‘Plans to restore the electricity supply have been activated in collaboration with companies in the sector following the zero that occurred in the peninsular system.
‘The causes are being analyzed and all resources are being dedicated to solving it. We will continue to report.’
Lottie Feist, 23, who lives in Lisbon, told of panic across the Portuguese capital as traffic lights cut out.
The translation student at Nova University said: ‘There is no electricity, nothing is working.
‘We don’t know what’s happening or why we are having a blackout.
‘The roads are absolute carnage as no traffic lights are working.
‘All the power is down, and businesses are being impacted.
‘It’s terrifying, people will be stuck in elevators, and everything has completely shut down.’
Commuters leave a subway station after a blackout hit Spain and Portugal, in Madrid
A woman uses her cell phone’s flashlight in the dark after Madrid Open matches are suspended due to a power outage
People try to board a crowded bus after the subway stopped running following a power outage in Lisbon
A metro worker passes underneath barricade tape, to enter Legazpi Metro station, after the metro was closed during a power outage
In the Spanish city of Valencia, Metrovalencia which runs the city’s urban rail system said traffic was ‘disrupted’ due to a ‘general power outage in the city’.
In a post on X, Metrovalencia added: ‘The extent and duration of the outage are unknown.’
The Spanish government has gathered for an emergency session and is monitoring the situation as it develops, according to Spanish media.
It is rare to have such a widespread outage there. Spanish generator Red Eléctrica said it affected the Iberian peninsula and the incident is being assessed.
The countries have a combined population of over 50 million people. It was not immediately clear how many were affected.
France’s power grid operator said the extent of the outage there was limited and that power had been restored.
‘In France, homes were without power for several minutes in the Basque Country. All power has since been restored,’ it said, referring to the region in France’s extreme southwestern corner on the border with Spain.
RTE said that the outage was not caused by a fire in the south of France, contrary to some reports.
The operator said there was ‘no impact on the supply-demand balance’ in France.
According to RTE, the Iberian grid was automatically disconnected from the European grid from 12:38 pm to 1:30 pm (1038 GMT to 1130 GMT).
Metro stations in Madrid were plunged into darkness by the outages
Barriers at a metro station in Madrid after the blackout hit the city
View of a bar after a blackout hit Spain in the city of Toledo, central Spain
Spain’s public broadcaster RTVE said a major power outage hit several regions of the country just after midday local time, leaving its newsroom, Spain’s parliament in Madrid and subway stations across the country in the dark.
A graph on Spain’s electricity network website showing demand across the country indicated a steep drop around 12:15 p.m. from 27,500MW to near 15,000MW.
A couple of hours later, Spain’s electricity network operator said it was recovering power in the north and south of the peninsula, which would help to progressively restore the electricity supply nationwide.
In Portugal, a country of some 10.6 million people, the outage hit the capital, Lisbon, and surrounding areas, as well as northern and southern parts of the country.
Portugal’s government said the incident appeared to stem from problems outside the country, an official told national news agency Lusa.
‘It looks like it was a problem with the distribution network, apparently in Spain. It’s still being ascertained,’ Cabinet Minister Leitão Amaro was quoted as saying.
People queuing for candles in a shop Residents in Portugal and Spain have been hit with huge power cuts
A person is seen in a dark corridor after matches are suspended at Madrid Open due to a power outage
Several attendants leave Caja Magica tennis complex amid Mutua Madrid Open tennis tournament after a blackout
Metro workers explain to a woman that the metro is closed due to a power outage, in Madrid
Portuguese distributor E-Redes said the outage was due to ‘a problem with the European electricity system,’ according to Portuguese newspaper Expresso.
The company said it was compelled to cut power in specific areas to stabilize the network, according to Expresso.
Several Lisbon subway cars were evacuated, reports said. Also in Portugal, courts stopped work and ATMs and electronic payment systems were affected. Traffic lights in Lisbon stopped working.
It was not possible to make calls on mobile phone networks, though some apps were working.
