On Monday night (April 28), some areas of the Iberian Peninsula in Europe began to restore power after a major blackout paralyzed much of Spain and Portugal. Flights were grounded, public transportation halted, and hospitals were forced to suspend routine surgeries.
The Spanish Ministry of the Interior declared a state of emergency nationwide and deployed thirty thousand police officers across the country to maintain order, as emergency cabinet meetings were held by the two governments.
Such a large-scale blackout is extremely rare in Europe.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez stated, “This is something that has never happened before.”
The cause of the blackout is still unclear and currently under investigation.
Neighboring regions in France, bordering northeastern Spain, also experienced brief power outages.
In Spain, the Basque Country and Barcelona began to restore power earlier in the afternoon on Monday, with some areas in the capital Madrid also regaining power on Monday evening. According to the national grid operator, approximately 61% of power had been restored by Monday night.
Madrid Mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida advised people to stay at home as street lighting in the city had not fully recovered, as mentioned in a video posted on the social media platform X.
In Portugal, the central districts of Lisbon and several other cities began to gradually restore power on Monday night. Portuguese grid operator REN reported that 85 out of 89 substations had regained power.
The widespread blackout affected the entire Iberian Peninsula.
Hospitals in Madrid and Catalonia in Spain suspended all routine medical operations, but continued to treat critically ill patients using backup generators. Several refineries in Spain were shut down, and some retailers closed their doors.
Portuguese authorities reported that traffic signals nationwide were affected, with the closure of the metro systems in Lisbon and Porto, as well as the cancellation of trains in both countries.
Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez mentioned on Monday night that approximately 35,000 passengers had been rescued from stranded trains, with 11 trains still stuck in remote areas.
The Madrid Open tennis tournament was suspended.
Due to the malfunctioning of traffic lights, traffic jams occurred in the center of Madrid, where individuals wearing reflective vests directed vehicles at intersections.
(This article referenced reports from Reuters)