Iberian power cut: Chaos across Spain, Portugal, parts of France as massive blackout hits millions

A widespread power outage on Monday paralysed much of Spain, Portugal, and parts of France, halting subway trains, delaying flights, cutting phone services and shutting down traffic lights and ATM machines for as many as 50 million people.

This had utility operators reeling, with Spanish electricity corporation Red Eléctrica saying that it could take anywhere between 6-10 hours to restore the grid to a functional state again, so as to re-deliver electricity to the power-deprived Iberian Peninsula.

As of now,  Red Eléctrica has managed to recover voltage at substations in the north, west, and south of the peninsula, according to a press release posted on Monday evening. It added that power could soon be supplied to these areas, but a complete restoration of power to the other parts of the peninsula would take time.

Eduardo Prieto, head of operations at Red Eléctrica, told journalists it was unprecedented, calling the event “exceptional and extraordinary”.

Authorities refused to speculate on the causes behind the outage, although the Portuguese National Cybersecurity Center claimed that there was no sign of the outage having been a planned cyberattack, as per an Associated Press report. 

Daily life turned absolutely chaotic across Portugal and Spain as traffic lights switched off, causing gridlock, halting roads and transport networks like the subway. 

Madrid saw a heavy police presence amid hundreds of people standing on the streets outside office buildings, with some officers directing traffic themselves, and others driving along central atriums with lights, as per a Reuters report.

“It looks like it was a problem with the distribution network, apparently in Spain. It’s still being ascertained,” explained Cabinet Minister Leitão Amaro, as per the reports.

Officials from both Spain and Portugal contacted their prime ministers and security advisors, which led to the establishment of a crisis committee in Spain, working closely with Red Eléctrica.

"The government is working to determine the origin and impact of this incident and is dedicating all resources to resolve it as soon as possible," the Spanish government said, in conversation with the national news agency Lusa.

Ursula van der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, also reaffirmed her support for monitoring the situation, aided by national and European authorities, as well as the Electricity Coordination Group. 

World