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South Wales Argus
30-04-2025
- South Wales Argus
Lights out for Barry tourist caught in Spanish blackout
Spain Portugal and parts of France were heavily involved which wasn't good news for Alun who was holidaying in Torrevieja Spain. Across the Iberian Peninsula, the outage grounded flights, paralysed train systems and disrupted mobile communication. Power first went out Monday morning on April 28. In capitals, Madrid and Lisbon offices closed and traffic was gridlocked as traffic lights had stopped working. In Barcelona, residents walked into stores searching for battery-powered radios and civilians directed traffic at junctions along the Gran Via avenue that cuts through the city. Alun Williams of Barry on holidays in Torrevieja during a power outage (Image: Alun Williams) Alun described the experience: 'At around 11.30am local time we noticed the power had gone in our apartment. We tried to investigate whether it was the trip switched but it still didn't work. 'We then asked if the other apartments had power which they hadn't. We took a walk down the beach and we discovered the whole resort was out. 'We had limited connectivity but were able to find out that the whole of Spain had a power cut. The local supermarket was shut with police stationed outside. 'We did start worry what would have caused this?' The beach in Torrevieja during a power outage (Image: Alun Williams) It wasn't long before locals started speculating and panicking. Alun explained: 'You could see people talking about possible Russian interference as we learnt Portugal also had a power cut which further fuelled our concern that it had something to do with the Russians. 'All the restaurants were closed and all, but one Supermarket had closed so we assumed it had a generator. It was packed with people panic buying and most shelves were empty. 'It was very eerie, and we anxious about what was happening. 'At around 6pm we were still without power with no end in sight and we'd lost all communication.' Alun Williams of Barry on holidays in Torrevieja during a power outage (Image: Alun Williams) Eventually power was restored almost 23 hours later Tuesday April 29 around 11am. The cause of the power outage hasn't been confirmed. The Portuguese National Cybersecurity Centre in a statement said there was no sign the outage was due to a cyber-attack. The Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez described the problem in the European grid as a 'strong oscillation' and added that the cause is still being determined. The Spanish leader asked the public to refrain from speculation and said no theory about the cause of the outage had been discarded. 'We are analysing all the potential causes without discarding any hypothesis,' the prime minister said. He went on to detail that, at 12.22pm on Monday, Spain's power grid lost 15 gigawatts, the equivalent of 60% of its national demand, in a matter of five seconds. 'We have never had a complete collapse of the system,' he added.
Daily Record
29-04-2025
- Climate
- Daily Record
Spain power outage dead confirmed as tragic family-of-three among victims of national emergency
A family of three are among the tragic victims of the Iberian Peninsula power outage, as details of the toll of the national emergency have emerged. At least five people have passed away after areas of Spain, Portugal and France were left without electricity , and an investigation into the shock blackout is now underway. In the town of Taboadela, near the north-western Spanish city of Ourense, officials announced the bodies of "a married couple and their son" were found in their home. The Mirror reports forensic teams and firefighters said they are investigating whether the deaths were caused by carbon monoxide inhalation due to a malfunction. The 81-year-old man was found alongside his wife, 77, and their disabled son, 56, in their three-storey home. Investigators found a generator in the basement and it is believed the gases travelled to the upper floors, according to Spanish outlet El Pais . Another two people were poisoned in a separate incident in Rianxo, in the north-western city of A Coruna, though they were taken to a nearby hospital . Many people across Spain relied on using a generator in order to power their homes after the blackout sparked chaos. Firefighters in Catalonia were called out nine times to reports of carbon monoxide emergencies. In the coastal city of Valencia, in eastern Spain, a 46-year-old woman died after her oxygen machine failed due to the power cut. Millions of people in Spain and Portugal suffered a huge power cut. That prompted officials to announce an unprecedented state of emergency. Widespread travel and disruption left thousands of train passengers stranded with many others being left unable to connect to the internet or effectively use their phones. The blackout happened at about 12:30pm local time, leaving swathes of the population facing a night of no electricity and essential power. Emergency services and rail workers in Spain had to evacuate passengers. An estimated 35,000 people from some 100 trains that stopped on the tracks when the electricity was cut. By 11pm passengers on 11 trains still needed to be evacuated. Portugal's national grid operator said 6.2million out of 6.5million households have power again. Spanish Prime Minster Pedro Sanchez said the electricity demand was normal and the systems were at "good capacity". He has demanded an urgent investigation into the private companies following the blackouts. Mobile telephone and fibre optics are working in 90% of the country, according to the Spanish PM. The Portuguese National Cybersecurity Centre said in a statement there was no sign the outage was due to a cyber attack.
BreakingNews.ie
29-04-2025
- BreakingNews.ie
What's happening in Spain and Portugal? Will my holiday be affected?
There's never a good time for a power cut, but the week of the May bank holiday weekend is, for holidaymakers, almost as bad as it could get. With many Irish people hoping to take advantage of the long weekend by jetting away for some sun, the power outage which hit Spain, Portugal, and some of France on Monday has undoubtedly heightened anxiety. Advertisement However, thankfully the problem seems to have subsided for the most part, with nearly all of Spain regaining power by Tuesday morning. More than 99 per cent of the country's power was recovered by 6am on Tuesday, according to Spanish power distributer Red Electrica. Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez earlier vowed to have the entire country of 48 million with their lights back on by the end of the day. Portugal's grid operator REN said that all its power sub-stations were back "on stream" before midnight last night. Advertisement The Portuguese government said trains are back working and "all 6.4 million electricity clients", have had their supply "normalised". Red Electrica head of operations Eduardo Prieto said the event was 'exceptional and extraordinary'. The Portuguese National Cybersecurity Centre, in a statement, said there was no sign the outage was due to a cyber-attack. At 12.22pm on Monday, Spain's power grid lost 15 gigawatts, the equivalent of 60 per cent of its national demand, in a matter of five seconds. Advertisement As of Tuesday afternoon, power has returned to almost all, if not all, areas. But what does this mean for those of us hoping to head off this week? Graeme McQueen, media relations manager at DAA, the operator of Cork and Dublin airports, said that in total on Monday, 13 flights in and out of Dublin Airport, and four flights in and out of Cork Airport were cancelled due to the power outage. 'Thankfully, the issues which affected airports in Spain and Portugal on Monday have subsided and flights are operating as normal this morning,' Mr McQueen said. 'At both Cork and Dublin airports, we've seen a full schedule of first wave flights depart, including many to Spain and Portugal, and we're pleased to report no delays of note so far today. Advertisement 'We're expecting a busy but smooth weekend at both Cork and Dublin airports this weekend, as many head overseas for the May bank holiday and with thousands of visitors set to come to Ireland for the long weekend.' As always, however, Mr McQueen added that passengers should check directly with their airline for updates regarding their flight. But what happened? What caused the power cut? Could it happen again? Mr Sánchez said what happened "cannot happen again", adding that his government would hold private firms to account. So, on the plus side, if you haven't yet commenced your Spanish holiday, a nationwide power cut has now become less likely than it was yesterday. Advertisement Portugal's Prime Minister, Luis Montenegro has said there was no indication of a cyberattack, but both countries are still looking at all hypotheses. Spanish grid operator Red Electrica, in a statement on Monday night, pointed to a "strong oscillation in the power flow, which triggered "a very significant loss of generation." This loss of generation went beyond what the electrical systems are designed to handle, and the Spanish grid was disconnected from the European system. The electrical system then collapsed, leading to voltage losses in the supply points of both the Spanish and Portuguese peninsular electrical systems, Red Electrica said. What causes power outages? The most common cause of an unplanned power cut which disables electricity on a large scale is extreme weather such as storms, lightning strikes or high winds. They can also happen when there are faults at power stations, power distribution lines, substations or other parts of the electricity transmission system or grid. Most power cuts typically last between a few minutes to several hours, so hopefully, anyone heading on holiday in the coming days should arrive in a country with power. I can get to the airport, but can I get any farther? Spain's transport minister has said that, after the widespread disruption led to trains being cancelled and, in some regions, evacuated, a number of train lines are cancelled until further notice. This mainly affects commuter trains in places like Bilbao, Cadiz, Seville, Zaragoza, Vigo and San Sebastian. Commuter services in Madrid and Valencia are returning to normal, but with reduced services. For long distance trans, services from Madrid to Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga, Santander, Granada and the Basque Country are 'progressively returning to normal'. However, trains from Madrid to Huelva, Cadiz, Salamanca, Badajoz and Galicia remain cancelled until further notice. The Madrid Metro has fully reopened except for Line 7A, which connects the north of the city to the east via Atletico Madrid's stadium. As for flights, there are under 500 cancellations across Spain and Portugal on Tuesday. So, as of right now, normality seems to be returning to the Iberian Peninsula after what can only be described as chaos on Monday.
Metro
29-04-2025
- Climate
- Metro
Theories over what caused unprecedented power outage in Spain and Portugal
The power grid stretching across Portugal, Spain, and into France is back up and running today, with local services scrambling to reach their full capacity after an 'extraordinary' blackout yesterday. The Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, said that a problem in the European grid caused the huge power outage that struck Spain, Portugal and parts of France. Mr Sanchez described the problem in the European grid as a 'strong oscillation' and added that the cause is still being determined. It was the second serious European power outage in less than six weeks after a March 20 fire shut down Heathrow Airport in the UK, and it came as authorities across Europe are upping defences against sabotage backed by Russia. The Portuguese National Cybersecurity Centre said in a statement that there was no sign the outage was due to a cyber attack. So what caused the blackout? Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez described the problem in the European grid as a 'strong oscillation' and added that the cause is still being determined. He went on to detail that, at 12.22 pm on Monday, Spain's power grid lost 15 gigawatts, the equivalent of 60% of its national demand, in a matter of five seconds. An oscillation in the power grid is when two separate voltages or currents cause a change in the flow of power, and can destabilise the system as a whole. Visually, this can be seen when two different wavelengths of power collide, causing the rest of the system to destabilise. It's too early to tell. Spain is one of the world's leaders in renewable energy, with many wind and solar plants. Some online have claimed that Spain's switch from coal to other renewable sources could have made the systems more vulnerable to an outage. Kathryn Porter, an independent energy consultant, told the Mail Online: 'The more you have wind and solar on the grid, the less stable the grid becomes and so the harder it is to manage faults. 'I would say there's a strong chance that the large amount of solar on the system created the conditions for this to be a widespread blackout and made it much worse.' Investigations are ongoing to see if the renewable energy sector contributed to instability in the grid. No. Red Electrica head of operations, Eduardo Priet, said the event was 'exceptional and extraordinary'. It was the second serious European power outage in less than six weeks after a March 20 fire shut down Heathrow Airport in the UK, and it came as authorities across Europe gird against sabotage backed by Russia. The Portuguese National Cybersecurity Centre, in a statement, said there was no sign the outage was due to a cyber attack. Barcelona's streets were filled with throngs of people milling about in front of darkened shops and offices and exchanging information on what had happened. Immediate concerns were which phone companies still had some, at least, spotty coverage, or where internet access might be found. Another concern was how to get home with the subway shut and public buses packed. Some took advantage of the lack of connectivity and transport to enjoy the sunshine on restaurant terraces. In Terrassa, an industrial town 30 miles from Barcelona, stores selling generators were out of stock after people lined up to buy them. In Portugal, a country of some 10.6 million people, the outage hit Lisbon and surrounding areas, as well as northern and southern parts. More Trending Portuguese police placed more officers on duty to direct traffic and cope with increased requests for help, including from people trapped in lifts. Hospitals and other emergency services in both Spain and Portugal switched to generators. Petrol stations stopped working. Portugal's National Authority for Emergencies and Civil Protection said backup power systems were operating. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Full list of cancelled flights after power outage plunges Spain and Portugal into darkness MORE: Map reveals cities affected by the power outages in Spain and Portugal MORE: Mystery over cause of massive power outage across Spain and Portugal
The Independent
29-04-2025
- Business
- The Independent
UK looking at ‘different challenges', minister says after Spanish power cut
The UK has been looking at how to deal with 'different kinds of challenges and threats', the Home Secretary said after a major power outage across Spain and Portugal. Much of the two countries was brought to a standstill on Monday after a power cut switched off traffic lights and left people unable to access cash machines. Asked whether the power cut there had triggered a fear that British infrastructure could be affected in the same way, Yvette Cooper told Sky News that the UK has a 'continued approach' to 'resilience' and 'security issues'. She added: 'We've been looking, as part of wider security reviews across the country, how we deal with both resilience and also different kinds of challenges and threats. 'Some of which can be the traditional security challenges, some of which can be the kinds of resilience – things that we're talking about in Spain and Portugal – and we obviously support them and the governments there in the work that they're doing.' Spanish power distributors said on Tuesday morning that more than 99% of power has been recovered. The blackout saw train passengers stranded and millions of people left without phone and internet access after the outage on Monday. The Portuguese National Cybersecurity Centre said in a statement there was no indication that it was caused by a cyber attack. It comes just weeks after Heathrow Airport was forced to halt operations for most of a day after a power outage caused by a substation fire. The airport was closed to all flights until around 6pm on March 21, which disrupted more than 270,000 air passenger journeys. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said at the time that the Government will 'have to look hard' at the 'resilience' for major institutions such as Heathrow.
