2 power blackouts, 1 region, 0 arrests: Who is sabotaging France's electric grid?

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26-05-2025

In just 24 hours, two major blackouts hit southeastern France — first in Cannes during the film festival, then in Nice — crippling power for over 200,000 homes. Investigations point to arson and sabotage, with an anarchist group claiming responsibility read more
Police direct traffic during an electricity outage in Cannes, southern France, May 24, 2025. File Image/AP
France's Côte d'Azur (French Riviera in southeastern France) was rattled by two major power outages over the weekend, affecting tens of thousands of residents and disrupting life in cities including Cannes and Nice.
Authorities suspect sabotage after multiple electrical facilities were damaged in a series of what officials are calling coordinated acts of arson.
The blackouts — first in Cannes on Saturday and then in Nice on Sunday — have raised serious concerns about the security of the region's energy infrastructure.
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On Saturday morning, the first outage affected large parts of Cannes and surrounding areas, coinciding with the final day of the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.
The following night, a second disruption struck the city of Nice and its neighbouring municipalities. In both cases, critical electrical infrastructure was either damaged or deliberately targeted, prompting inquiries into arson and malicious interference.
Cannes outage: What happened?
The first incident unfolded early Saturday in the Alpes-Maritimes department. A fire erupted overnight at an electrical substation located in Tanneron, west of Cannes.
The blaze, which was brought under control by emergency services, led to a massive outage that impacted approximately 160,000 homes.
According to France's national electricity grid operator RTE, the blackout initially started due to the substation fire, but a second disruption was triggered shortly after 10 am when technicians identified a dangerously unstable electricity pylon in Villeneuve-Louet, about 15 kilometres northeast of Cannes.
The high-voltage structure, with three of its supporting pillars cut, posed an immediate collapse risk and necessitated a secondary shutdown of the power supply.
Laurent Hottiaux, the prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes region, described the damage as 'major' and stated that 'all resources are being mobilised to identify, track down, arrest and bring to justice the perpetrators of these acts.'
The Alpes-Maritimes public prosecutor's office added in a statement, 'The Prosecutor's Office of Alpes-Maritimes condemns in the strongest possible terms these acts against the integrity of our infrastructures.'
Cannes Mayor David Lisnard told the public that officials suspected foul play and referred to the incident as being 'targeted in a criminal act.'
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The Cannes Film Festival, an internationally recognised cultural event , was directly impacted by the outage. Several scheduled screenings were briefly disrupted, but organisers activated backup power sources to maintain programming.
'The Cannes Film Festival announced that it had 'switched to an alternative electricity power supply, which enables us to maintain the events and screenings planned for today in normal conditions, including the closing ceremony,'' according to the official festival statement.
Despite the quick recovery, some events were delayed. A festival attendee watching Sound of Falling at the Agnes Varda theatre reported that the film abruptly stopped one and a half hours into the screening, reported The New York Times.
Emergency lights illuminated the theater, and after a 20-minute delay, the screening resumed using a backup generator.
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The wider impact on the city was also significant. Traffic signals failed, prompting police officers to manually direct vehicles at intersections. Firefighters responded to numerous calls about people trapped in elevators.
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In the city's Old Quarter, the iconic clock tower froze just past 10 am.
Several boutiques along the Croisette, Cannes' luxury promenade, were forced to close. Patrons at one restaurant reportedly applauded when power was restored just before 3 pm
Second blackout in Nice: What happened?
Just hours after Cannes regained power, a second blackout struck the city of Nice around 2:00 am Sunday. Approximately 45,000 homes were affected. The tram system came to a halt, and although the Nice Côte d'Azur Airport was closed during the incident, it also experienced a temporary power cut.
By 5:30 am, energy provider Enedis reported that the electricity supply had been fully restored. However, the damage was already under investigation.
The Nice public prosecutor confirmed the launch of a criminal probe for 'organised arson.' According to authorities, the affected facility had signs of deliberate tampering.
While investigators have not officially connected the Nice blackout to the Cannes incident, both occurred in close succession and targeted vital infrastructure in the same region.
Mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi reacted strongly. 'I strongly denounce these malicious acts targeting our country,' he said on X (formerly Twitter). Speaking to the press, he added, 'These actions can have serious consequences, particularly on hospitals.'
Estrosi announced that a formal complaint had been filed and ordered increased security around key infrastructure sites. 'As long as the perpetrators haven't been caught, we will remain on high alert,' he said.
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Who is behind it?
In a post published on the activist platform indymedia.org, a group described as anarchists claimed responsibility for the attacks. 'We are two bands of anarchists,' the post stated. 'We claim responsibility for the attack on electrical installations on the Côte d'Azur.'
Authorities have not verified the legitimacy of the claim, and law enforcement has not commented publicly on the post. Investigations remain ongoing in both Cannes and Nice, with no suspects named or arrested as of yet.
How is this mirroring a broader trend in Europe?
The twin outages in southeastern France come on the heels of similar incidents elsewhere in Europe. On April 28, 2025, a massive blackout swept across mainland Spain and Portugal .
The power disruption lasted about 10 hours in most areas and caused widespread chaos in sectors ranging from emergency services to telecommunications.
At least eight fatalities were reported — seven in Spain and one in Portugal — due to complications arising from the loss of electricity, including fires caused by candles and carbon monoxide poisoning from improperly used generators.
The outage was initially suspected to be a cyberattack. Spain's National Cybersecurity Institute began an investigation, and speculation arose about foreign involvement.
The Wall Street Journal noted that the outage bore 'the hallmarks of a sophisticated cyberattack.' However, Spanish electricity grid operator REE later ruled out a cyberattack and attributed the blackout to a grid disconnection in southwestern Spain.
A view shows Santa Llogaia electrical sub-station connected to the interconnection grid between France and Spain that tripped after a sudden, large drop in power supply and caused the major blackout in the Iberian Peninsula, in the village of Santa Llogaia d'Alguema, near Figueres, Spain, April 29, 2025. File Image/Reuters
'Citizens must know that the government will get to the bottom of this. Measures will be taken, and all private operators will be held accountable,' Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said, announcing an official commission of inquiry under the Ministry for Ecological Transition.
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European officials have also voiced concern over rising acts of sabotage allegedly carried out by groups linked to foreign governments. Incidents ranging from cyberattacks to arson at supermarkets, graffiti and assaults have been reported across the continent.
Although many of these claims remain unproven, they have contributed to an atmosphere of heightened vigilance.
France is no stranger to such threats. During the opening day of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, arson attacks on the country's rail infrastructure caused widespread travel delays.
Even the busy Heathrow international airport in London, United Kingdom was closed to all flights on March 21 earlier this year after a fire at a nearby electricity substation caused an 'unprecedented' loss of power.
With inputs from agencies