Updated on: April 28, 2025 / 1:02 PM EDT / CBS/AP
A massive and unprecedented power outage Monday hit large parts of Spain as well as Portugal. The blackout halted subway and railway trains, cut phone service and shut down traffic lights and ATMs for the millions of people who live across Europe's Iberian Peninsula.
Spanish power distributor Red Eléctrica said that restoring power to the country could take up to 10 hours while a Portuguese electricity grid operator said fully restoring power in Portugal could take as long as a week.
The outage hit both countries' capitals, Madrid and Lisbon. Offices closed and traffic was snarled as traffic lights stopped working. It was not possible to make calls on some mobile phone networks, though some apps were 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.
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said that a problem in the European grid that he described as a "strong oscillation" was behind the outage, but that the cause was 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.
Portuguese grid operator REN said a rare atmospheric phenomenon in Spain from extreme temperature variations was behind the massive outage and that workers could need as long as a week to fully restore power, according to the Reuters news agency. However, Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro expected power to be restored by the end of the day. The Portuguese National Cybersecurity Center issued a statement saying there was no sign the outage was due to a cyberattack.
Red Eléctrica declined to speculate on the causes of the blackout. Eduardo Prieto, head of operations at Red Electrica, told journalists it was unprecedented, calling the event "exceptional and extraordinary." By mid-afternoon, voltage was progressively being restored in the north, south and west of the peninsula, the company said.
Sánchez convened an extraordinary meeting of Spain's National Security Council and visited Red Eléctrica to follow efforts at restoring grid operations. Montenegro said he has spoken several times to Sánchez. The Portuguese Cabinet convened an emergency meeting at the prime minister's residence.
The countries have a combined population of about 60 million people. It was not immediately clear how many were affected. It is rare to have such a widespread outage across the Iberian Peninsula.
Spain's Canary Islands, Balearic Islands and the territories of Ceuta and Melilla, located across the Mediterranean in Africa, were not impacted by the outage.
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.
The blackout is the second serious European power outage in less than six weeks after a March 20 fire shut down Heathrow Airport in the U.K. and comes as authorities across Europe gird against sabotage backed by Russia.
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 27,500 megawatts to near 15,000 megawatts.
In Lisbon, terminals closed and throngs of tourists sat outside in the sun and the shade waiting for news about their flights.