Power outage cripples trains, Internet in Spain, Portugal, France

Major power outages across large areas of Spain, Portugal, and parts of southern France on Monday caused widespread disruption, knocking out traffic lights, halting public transportation, and affecting airport operations.

According to Al Jazeera, officials have yet to confirm the cause of the outages, though several have ruled out foul play.

‘Grid operators in both countries [Spain and Portugal] are working on finding the cause and on restoring the electricity supply’, President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, posted on X (formerly Twitter). Costa, who served as Portugal’s Prime Minister from 2015 to 2024, emphasized, ‘At this point, there are no indications of any cyberattack’.

The power failures struck the Iberian Peninsula around 10:30 GMT — 12:30 p.m. local time in Spain and 11:30 a.m. in Portugal. Southern France was also briefly affected, but service there was quickly restored.

Critical infrastructure bore the brunt of the impact. Metro systems in Madrid, Barcelona, and Lisbon were forced to shut down, and major airports, including Madrid-Barajas and Lisbon’s Humberto Delgado Airport, faced significant delays and partial closures.

Spanish newspaper El País described the outage as an event that ‘set Spain back to the 19th century’.

‘Trains are not operating and traffic lights are down, causing chaos. Many cities are completely dark’, reported Al Jazeera’s Step Vaessen from Valencia Airport in Spain. ‘Authorities have stated that it is the first time in history such a large-scale blackout has occurred’.

Efforts to fully restore electricity and investigate the cause of the historic blackout were still ongoing as of Monday evening.