Major power outage reported in Spain and Portugal; Spanish distributor says restoration could take 6-10 hours
A major power outage hit Spain and Portugal on Monday, including their capitals, knocking out subway networks, phone lines, traffic lights and ATM machines.
Spanish power distributor Red Eléctrica said that restoring power to large parts of the country after a massive and unprecedented outage Monday that also hit Portugal could take 6-10 hours.
The company declined to speculate on the causes of the blackout. The Portuguese National Cybersecurity Center issued a statement saying there was no sign the outage was due to a cyberattack.
Eduardo Prieto, head of operations at Red Electrica, told journalists it was unprecedented, calling the event 'exceptional and extraordinary.'
Authorities said the cause was not immediately known, though one Portuguese official said the problem appeared to be with the electricity distribution network in Spain.
The countries have a combined population of over 50 million people. It was not immediately clear how many were affected. It is rare to have such a widespread outage across the Iberian Peninsula.
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.
Portugal's government said the outage 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.
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.
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.
Video aired on Spanish television showed people evacuating metro stations in Madrid and empty stations with trains stopped in Barcelona.
Play at the Madrid Open tennis tournament was suspended. Three matches were underway when power went down.
Spain's traffic department asked citizens to avoid using their cars as much as possible due to the power outage, which has affected traffic lights and electrical road signage.
In Terrassa, an industrial town 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Barcelona, stores selling generators were out of stock after people lined up to buy them.
Portugal's E-Redes said parts of France also were affected.
In a country of some 10.6 million people, the outage hit the capital, Lisbon, and surrounding areas, as well as northern and southern parts. Portuguese police placed more officers on duty to direct traffic and cope with increased requests for help, including from people trapped in elevators.
Portuguese hospitals and other emergency services switched to generators. Gas stations stopped working and trains stopped running.
Portugal's National Authority for Emergencies and Civil Protection said backup power systems were operating.
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.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Indian Express
28 minutes ago
- New Indian Express
Ensure fair prices for mangoes: CM N Chandrababu Naidu
TIRUPATI: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has urged mango farmers and pulp industries to work together to ensure fair prices for farmers, and sustained operation of processing units. He held an urgent review meeting with mango farmers, pulp industry representatives, and processing units of the erstwhile undivided Chittoor district on Thursday. Naidu directed the processing and pulp industries to immediately purchase mangoes from farmers to provide them relief. He assured that the government would also support the pulp and processing industries. He said the government would formulate a long-term plan to prevent future issues for mango farmers. Farmers brought to Naidu's attention that pulp industries were not purchasing mangoes, citing a lack of orders and storage space. Some farmers also reported that unloading itself was taking 3-4 days in certain areas. Responding to this, the Chief Minister instructed processing units and pulp industry representatives to immediately purchase the produce and support farmers. Mango pulp industries and exporters informed the Chief Minister that Pakistan and African countries have no import duties, while European countries impose high import duties. They urged Naidu to take up the matter with the Centre to persuade the European countries to reduce import duty. They also appealed for a reduction in GST on mango pulp from 12% to 5%. In response, the Chief Minister said he had already written to the Centre regarding the GST reduction, and would follow up on the matter again.
Time of India
32 minutes ago
- Time of India
Russia's loss in Ukraine war a threat to China, US focus shift a reality; EU gets Beijing's warning loud and clear
China signals strategic motive in Ukraine via warning to EU EU accuses China of enabling Russia's war effort Trade disputes and rare earth export restrictions under scrutiny Live Events EU–China summit and diplomatic tensions (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel During a four-hour closed-door meeting in Brussels on July 2–3, 2025, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas that Beijing 'cannot afford' to see Russia lose in Ukraine, citing concern that the United States would otherwise redirect its focus away from Europe and toward remarks, not included in official communiqués, were described by EU officials as a moment of rare frankness that startled read: Donald Trump drops bombshell: US is hacking China just like they are hacking us Kallas pressed China to cease material support to Russia, warning that Chinese firms supplying dual-use components to Moscow pose a 'serious threat' to European maintains publicly that it is 'not a party' to the war and denies military or financial assistance. Wang emphatically rejected the allegations, stating that 'if China was materially supporting Russia, the conflict would have ended long ago'.At the same meeting, Brussels also criticized China over restrictive export policies on rare earths and magnets, vital to European manufacturers and defense accused Beijing of engaging in 'distortive practices,' and China's Ministry of Commerce responded by reducing license processing time from six weeks to urged mutual respect of core interests, warning against viewing Europe and China as read: US becomes Taiwan's number 1 export destination surpassing China. Is Beijing losing grip over Taipei The discussion set the stage for the upcoming EU–China leaders summit scheduled for July 24–25 in Beijing and Anhui reportedly indicated that the summit's duration 'could be truncated' if the EU continued to press on contentious issues. He also said the bloc and China share 'broad common interests' and urged a cooperative relationship, despite current 'various challenges'.
The Hindu
33 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Will the EU delay enforcing its AI Act?
With less than a month to go before parts of the European Union's AI Act come into force, companies are calling for a pause in the provisions and getting support from some politicians. Groups representing big U.S. tech companies such as Google owner Alphabet and Facebook owner Meta, and European companies such as Mistral and ASML have urged the European Commission to delay the AI Act by years. The rules for general purpose AI (GPAI) models take effect on August 2, a Commission spokesperson reiterated, adding that the powers for enforcing those rules start only on August 2, 2026. Under the landmark act that was passed a year earlier after intense debate between EU countries, its provisions would come into effect in a staggered manner over several years. Some important provisions, including rules for foundation models like those made by Google, Mistral and OpenAI, will be subject to transparency requirements such as drawing up technical documentation, complying with EU copyright law and providing detailed summaries about the content used for algorithm training. The companies will also need to test for bias, toxicity, and robustness before launching. AI models classed as posing a systemic risk and high-impact GPAI will have to conduct model evaluations, assess and mitigate risks, conduct adversarial testing, report to the European Commission on serious incidents and provide information on their energy efficiency. For AI companies, the enforcement of the act means additional costs for compliance. And for ones that make AI models, the requirements are tougher. But companies are also unsure how to comply with the rules as there are no guidelines yet. The AI Code of Practice, a guidance document to help AI developers to comply with the act, missed its publication date of May 2. "To address the uncertainty this situation is creating, we urge the Commission to propose a two-year 'clock-stop' on the AI Act before key obligations enter into force," said an open letter published on Thursday by a group of 45 European companies. It also called for simplification of the new rules. A Commission spokesperson said the European AI Board is discussing the timing to implement the Code of Practice, with the end of 2025 being considered. Another concern is that the act may stifle innovation, particularly in Europe where companies have smaller compliance teams than their U.S. counterparts. While the Commission is set for GPAI rules to come in force from next month, its plan to publish key guidance to help thousands of companies to comply with the AI rules by year end would mark a six-month delay from its May deadline. EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen had earlier promised to publish the AI Code of Practice before next month. Some political leaders, such as Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, have also called the AI rules "confusing" and asked the EU to pause the act. "A bold 'stop-the-clock' intervention is urgently needed to give AI developers and deployers legal certainty, as long as necessary standards remain unavailable or delayed," tech lobbying group CCIA Europe said.
