Major Power Outage in Spain and Portugal
On April 28, 2025, at approximately 12:30 p.m. CET, a massive voltage oscillation triggered a cascading failure across Europe’s Iberian grid, abruptly cutting roughly 15 GW—about 60 percent of Spain’s demand—within five seconds. The outage instantly blacked out major cities on both sides of the border, halting subways, trains and flights; knocking out traffic lights, ATMs and phone networks; and forcing hospitals to switch to backup generators. Spain declared a state of emergency and deployed 30,000 police, while Portugal’s operators ruled out cyberattack and cited a rare grid disturbance originating in Spain. Restoration began that afternoon, with around 61 percent of Spain’s power and most Portuguese substations back online by evening, though Lisbon and other urban centers remained partially dark into the night.
Collapse and Immediate Consequences
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Grid Separation and Demand Drop
A sudden voltage oscillation disconnected the Iberian Peninsula from neighboring interconnectors—most notably France’s—causing system frequency to dive and automatically shedding 15 GW of load in under five seconds. This unprecedented drop overwhelmed built-in safeguards, leading to a wider network collapse. -
Transport Networks Stalled
Madrid’s and Barcelona’s metro systems immediately halted, stranding thousands of passengers who were evacuated from darkened tunnels and cars. High-speed AVE lines and suburban Renfe trains also stopped, with rail crews assisting some 35,000 travelers off the tracks. Major airports—including Madrid-Barajas and Barcelona-El Prat—switched to emergency power, delaying or canceling dozens of flights as ground support systems lost electricity. -
Public Infrastructure Shutdown
Traffic signals across key urban corridors went dark, prompting civilian volunteers to direct vehicles. Phone networks suffered widespread outages, though some internet-based messaging apps functioned sporadically. Banks reported that ATMs and point-of-sale terminals were inoperative, forcing merchants to accept cash or paper vouchers.
Governmental Response
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Spain Declares Emergency
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez convened the National Security Council and declared a state of emergency in Madrid, Andalusia and Extremadura, mobilizing 30,000 security personnel to maintain order and assist in relief operations. The Interior Ministry granted the central government temporary authority over local resources to prioritize critical restoration tasks. -
Portugal’s Crisis Cabinet
In Lisbon, Prime Minister Luís Montenegro chaired an emergency cabinet meeting and coordinated with REN to reboot substations. He assured citizens that efforts were underway to return power to 750,000 affected customers by nightfall, emphasizing that there was no evidence of digital sabotage.
Restoration Efforts
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Cross-Border Support
Spain tapped interconnectors with France and Morocco, importing emergency power to stabilize its northern and southern regions. Domestic output from hydroelectric and combined-cycle thermal plants was also increased to balance the grid while isolated “black-start” procedures gradually brought generators back online. -
Progress by Nightfall
By late evening, grid operator Red Eléctrica reported roughly 61 percent of Spain’s lost capacity restored, with Catalonia, Andalusia and the Basque Country leading the recovery. Portugal’s REN confirmed that most substations were energized, though critical areas like Lisbon and Porto remained on partial supply. Authorities cautioned that full normalization might extend into the following day for lower-priority zones.
Ongoing Investigation
Spanish and Portuguese authorities, together with European grid regulators, have launched a joint inquiry into high-voltage transformer data, interconnector logs and atmospheric conditions. All hypotheses—ranging from technical failures and rare weather-induced line vibrations to potential cyber-vectors—are under examination. Officials have stressed that no theory has been ruled out as they seek to prevent a recurrence.
