Spain and Portugal have been hit by a widespread power blackout on Monday (April 28, 2025) that paralysed public transport, precipitated giant site visitors jams and delayed airline flights, and utility operators have been scrambling to revive the grid.
Authorities have been unable to clarify the reason for the outage not less than an hour after it occurred, although a potential cyber assault had not been dominated out and investigations have been ongoing, officers mentioned. A disaster committee was arrange in Spain to handle the scenario, in line with individuals accustomed to the scenario.
The Spanish and Portuguese governments convened emergency cupboard conferences after the outage, which additionally briefly affected part of France, which borders northeastern Spain.
Portugal’s utility REN confirmed a minimize in electrical energy throughout the Iberian Peninsula that additionally affected a part of France, whereas Spanish grid operator Red Electrica mentioned it was working with regional vitality firms to revive power.
“All plans for the phased restoration of energy supply are being activated, in coordination with European energy producers and operators,” a REN spokesperson mentioned.
“REN is in permanent contact with official entities, namely the National Civil Protection Authority. At the same time, the possible causes of this incident are being assessed.”
Play on the Madrid Open tennis event was suspended, forcing fifteenth seed Grigor Dimitrov and British opponent Jacob Fearnley off the courtroom as scoreboards went darkish and overhead cameras misplaced power.
The Madrid Open tennis event venue is empty throughout a common blackout in Madrid on April 28, 2025.
| Photo Credit:
AP
Spanish radio stations mentioned a part of the Madrid underground was being evacuated. There have been site visitors jams in Madrid metropolis centre as site visitors lights stopped working, Cader Ser Radio station reported.
Hundreds of individuals stood outdoors workplace buildings on Madrid’s streets, and there was a heavy police presence round key buildings, directing site visitors in addition to driving alongside central atriums with lights, in line with a Reuters witness.
“One of four tower buildings in Madrid that houses the British Embassy had been evacuated,” the witness added.
Local radio reported individuals trapped in stalled metro automobiles and elevators. Portuguese police mentioned site visitors lights have been affected throughout the nation, the metro was closed in Lisbon and Porto, and trains weren’t working. “Lisbon’s subway transport operator Metropolitano de Lisboa said the subway was at a standstill with people still inside the trains,” in line with Publico newspaper.
A supply at Portugal’s TAP Air mentioned Lisbon airport was working on back-up turbines, whereas AENA, which manages 46 airports in Spain, reported flight delays across the nation.
In France, grid operator RTE mentioned there was a short outage however power had been restored. It was investigating the trigger.
Published – April 28, 2025 07:18 pm IST
