Power outage on the Iberian Peninsula – Spain and Portugal plunged into chaos [World News]

Millions without electricity, chaos in transport and communications

On Monday, 28 April 2025, Spain and Portugal experienced one of the worst power outages in their history. Just after midday, there was a sudden power outage that covered almost the entire Iberian Peninsula. The metro, airports, traffic lights and internet and mobile networks all stopped working.

In Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon and Seville, people were stuck in lifts and metro cars, and traffic was paralysed due to the shutdown of traffic lights. Madrid’s Barajas airport and Barcelona and Lisbon airports reported major disruptions, including flight cancellations and baggage check-in problems.

Causes of outage unknown, speculation of cyber attack

The operator of Spain’s power grid, Red Eléctrica, confirmed a nationwide system outage and assured that intensive work was underway to restore power. The cause of the outage remains unknown, but there has been speculation of a possible cyber attack, although Spain’s Cyber Security Coordination Office has deemed such theories premature. In Portugal, operator E-Redes reported that the source of the problem may have been outside the country, suggesting a fault in the European transmission network.

The failure also caused disruptions to major cultural events such as the Madrid Open tennis tournament, where British player Jacob Fearnley’s match was interrupted due to a breakdown in electronic systems.

The situation is still unfolding and emergency and technical services are working to restore normality in the affected regions.