Power restored across Spain and Portugal after hours of widespread power outage
Officials probe cause, and cyber concerns grow
Power is gradually returning to most parts of Spain and Portugal after a widespread blackout plunged the Iberian Peninsula into chaos for much of Monday.
The power failure left millions without electricity in cities including Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon and Porto. Essential services were disrupted as trains stopped, hospitals switched to backup generators, airports delayed flights and mobile networks collapsed in several areas.
The outage, which struck shortly after midday, also affected parts of southern France and exposed the fragility of Europe’s interconnected power grids.
Although energy providers moved quickly to restore supply, the scale of the blackout prompted concerns beyond the immediate technical malfunction.
By Monday night, electricity had been restored to most regions. Spain’s grid operator Red Eléctrica de España (REE) reported that over 90% of supply was back online by early Tuesday, while Portugal’s Redes Energéticas Nacionais (REN) confirmed a gradual return to normal, though some areas still face disruptions.
Leaders in both countries have ordered immediate investigations, while European officials are also monitoring the situation closely.
“We will work together to help restore the electricity system and reassure citizens.” President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen stated on X.
Cause of outage still unknown
Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro said initial technical reports indicate the failure began in Spain, then spread through the cross-border grid infrastructure.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the blackout was caused by the unexplained disappearance of 15 gigawatts of power from Spain’s electricity grid.
The root cause for that has not been confirmed, but authorities are examining whether a fault in a high-voltage transmission system or switching station triggered the collapse.
To put it in perspective, a single gigawatt is enough power for about 300,000 homes.
Given the scale and simultaneous impact on critical infrastructure, many initially feared a cyberattack.
Jake Moore, Global Cybersecurity Advisor at ESET, told Computing the incident is a stark reminder of growing threats to national infrastructure.
“This situation brings to life the long-feared worry of what an attack on delicate national infrastructure systems would look like,” he said.
On the root cause of the outage, Moore said, “It is good practice to think of all the possibilities. Nation-state attacks are notoriously difficult to defend against and targeting critical infrastructure has always been one of the biggest threats to a country.”
Despite these concerns, European Council President António Costa quickly countered the cyberattack narrative.
“At this point, there are no indications of any cyberattack,” he wrote on X. He added that “grid operators in both countries are working on finding the cause and on restoring the electricity supply.”
A spokesperson for National Energy Systems Operator (NESO), told us that while the UK’s grid was not affected, it is “working closely with our counterparts across Europe to understand the cause of the power system incident and to offer our support.”
As of the time of report, power has been restored to most major urban centres in both countries, though some rural areas are still experiencing intermittent supply. A state of emergency remains in effect in both countries as authorities work with European energy regulators to trace the actual cause.