On April 28, 2025, a widespread power outage affected large parts of Spain and Portugal, leading to significant disruptions including the shutdown of subway and rail services, telephone systems, and ATMs. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez stated that issues with the European electrical grid were to blame, though the precise cause remains under investigation. He urged the public to avoid speculation and thanked France and Morocco for assisting with electrical supply restoration.
Spanish electricity distributor Red Eléctrica indicated that power recovery could take 6 to 10 hours, and by mid-afternoon, some voltages were gradually returning. The outage impacted major cities, including Madrid and Lisbon, causing traffic chaos as traffic lights failed. Emergency services switched to generators, though there were reports of transportation disruptions and challenges in communication networks.
Both Spanish and Portuguese authorities convened emergency meetings to address the situation, with speculation pointing to a network issue in Spain. Officials confirmed that there were no signs of a cyberattack. This incident is noted as one of the most severe blackouts in Europe recently, with considerable public impact and inconvenience.
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