Spain and Portugal scrambled Monday to respond to a massive and unexplained power outage that plunged millions into chaos, knocked out traffic lights, shut down subway systems, and disrupted airports across the Iberian Peninsula.
Portugal’s grid operator, Redes Energéticas Nacionais (REN), reported that electricity was lost across the peninsula and parts of France shortly after midday. Spain’s grid operator warned it could take several hours to fully restore power — meaning many families and businesses risked facing nightfall without electricity.
The blackout halted lighting, shut down power sockets, and crippled public transport. Although some areas in Spain saw electricity start to return within a few hours, authorities were still working to fully stabilize the grid and determine what triggered the failure.
In Madrid, traffic ground to a halt after traffic signals failed. “I was driving and suddenly there were no traffic lights… it was a bit of a jungle,” Luis Ibáñez Jiménez told CNN. “I saw a massive bus coming and had to accelerate hard to avoid it.”
Metro systems were left in darkness, and passengers were forced to evacuate stranded trains. Across the region, governments called urgent emergency meetings as major transportation hubs shuttered.
Madrid’s mayor, José Luis Martinez Almeida, urged residents to stay off the roads unless necessary and only contact emergency services for critical needs. Later, Madrid’s emergency services pushed for a national emergency declaration, and local leader Isabel Díaz Ayuso requested military assistance.
Restoring the grid was described as a “complex operation” by Portugal’s REN. By Monday evening, both Spain and Portugal were seeing gradual progress in isolated areas.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez acknowledged that the root cause remained unknown. Meanwhile, Antonio Costa — president of the European Council and Portugal’s former prime minister — said there were no signs of a cyberattack.
In Spain’s northwest city of Vigo, empty markets and deserted streets reflected the sudden shock. Emergency officials warned the full restoration could take six to ten hours if all went well, according to Eduardo Prieto, director of services for Red Eléctrica, Spain’s national grid operator.
Blame between neighbors quickly followed. Portugal’s Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said the outage appeared to have originated in Spain.
Major Cities Paralyzed
The outage hit hard across dozens of cities, including Madrid, Lisbon, Barcelona, Seville, and Valencia — crucial hubs for transport, finance, and tourism. According to EU data, Madrid and Barcelona host two of the five busiest airports in the European Union.
For a few tense hours, normal life was upended. Credit card systems went down, cash transactions returned, and shops and restaurants were forced to close. Madrid’s firefighters conducted 174 elevator rescues, while shoppers stocked up on canned goods and other essentials.
Fortunately, nuclear plants remained operational, and hospitals switched to backup generators. Spain’s Health Ministry and Portugal’s emergency medical agency both confirmed contingency plans were activated successfully.
But the travel sector was hit severely. Airports experienced mass delays and cancellations, with flights halted mid-day. TAP Air Portugal advised travelers not to head to airports until further notice. In Lisbon’s Humberto Delgado Airport, passengers stood in dark, hot terminals with no air conditioning or water, struggling to pay for necessities with cash only.
Train services across Spain were also suspended. Subway stations in Madrid were cordoned off as service ground to a halt, stranding passengers underground. Videos posted on social media showed pitch-black subway cars stuck in stations.
Real-time electricity demand graphs captured the moment of the blackout, showing a dramatic drop-off.
Even sporting events were affected: matches at the Madrid Open were suspended as the power outage spread through the city.
Parts of southern France, particularly the Basque Country, experienced brief outages, but French grid operator RTE said these lasted only a few minutes and were quickly resolved.
Lingering Effects
As darkness fell, tens of millions were left wondering when — and how — the lights would come back. Full recovery will likely take days: Spain’s transportation minister announced that medium- and long-distance train services would not resume before Tuesday. Delays and cancellations across airports are expected to ripple through the week.
In Lisbon and other major cities, darkened intersections caused confusion and traffic jams, while emergency workers continued battling the effects of one of the most disruptive blackouts in recent European history.