Massive Power Outage Hits Spain, Portugal, and France; Air Traffic Disrupted and Chaos on Streets

A significant power outage struck large parts of Spain, Portugal, and even parts of France on Monday, leaving millions without electricity and causing widespread disruption. The outage, which began around 12:30 p.m. local time, affected key infrastructures, including transportation and airports, creating chaos in several major cities.

Spanish and Portuguese authorities have confirmed that the outage affected a broad swath of their national grids, forcing emergency measures. Spanish airport operator AENA reported disruptions at various airports, although contingency generators were activated to minimize impact. Red Electrica, Spain’s power grid operator, said it was working to restore electricity by gradually energizing affected areas.

In Portugal, E-Redes, the electricity distributor, cited a “problem with the European electricity system” as the root cause of the outage. Power was cut in specific areas to stabilize the network. The outage affected traffic lights in Lisbon and Porto, halted metro services, and caused disruptions in train services. In addition, mobile phone networks were largely non-functional, although some apps remained operational.

In Madrid, the power failure triggered significant traffic jams as traffic lights went out, and the city’s underground metro system had to be evacuated. Similar disruptions were reported in other major Spanish cities, including Barcelona. The national railway company Renfe confirmed that all train services were suspended due to the grid failure, and there were no departures from any station.

The power outage also disrupted the Madrid Open tennis tournament. Matches were halted after the outage affected the scoreboards and cameras, forcing players like Jacob Fearnley to leave the court.

Parts of France were also affected, though details on the extent of the outage in the country remain limited. Reports suggest that several regions in southern France faced power cuts, although the situation seemed less severe than in Spain and Portugal.

This is an unusual event for the Iberian Peninsula, and it has drawn attention to the vulnerability of the interconnected European power grid. E-Redes and Red Electrica have both acknowledged that the issue is related to a broader European electricity system malfunction, which resulted in cascading failures across multiple countries. As of now, efforts are underway to restore full power, but authorities have not yet provided a timeline for complete resolution.

Authorities in Spain, Portugal, and France continue to work toward restoring power and addressing the widespread disruptions. While emergency measures are in place, the outage has raised questions about the resilience of the European power grid and its ability to handle large-scale failures.