A widespread power outage struck large parts of Spain on Monday afternoon, affecting neighboring Portugal and France. Major cities such as Lisbon, Madrid, Seville, Barcelona, and Valencia reported disruptions beginning around 12:30 PM CET, leaving homes and businesses in the dark.
The Madrid Open tennis tournament has been put on hold due to the situation, per Sky News. In addition, Madrid’s underground rail service faced evacuation while traffic lights throughout the city ceased to function. Reports indicate that air travel was also impacted, with Spanish airport operator Aena announcing on X that backup generators are now supporting operations at affected airports. Emergency services in the capital continue to operate on generator power.
In Portugal, police reported outages affecting traffic lights nationwide, and metro services in Lisbon and Porto were halted. According to a statement from Portuguese energy supplier REN, as cited by The New York Times, the outages stemmed from issues within the European electricity grid, with Spain and France impacted due to faults in high voltage lines. The Basque Coast and the Burgundy region were also reported as being affected.
Recent updates from REN, reported by BBC News, suggest that the outages are linked to a “rare atmospheric phenomenon” termed “induced atmospheric vibration.” These vibrations are described as anomalous oscillations in the high voltage lines triggered by extreme temperature fluctuations in Spain. Restoration of the disrupted European power networks could take “up to a week.”
Spanish electricity operator Red Eléctrica informed Bloomberg that it may require between six to ten hours to restore power across the nation. The operator confirmed efforts are underway in collaboration with energy companies to address the outages, with power already being reinstated in several substations located in the northern, southern, and western regions of Spain.
Meanwhile, the Spanish Directorate-General for Traffic advises caution when driving due to the outage affecting traffic lights and powered road signs. In contrast, France’s electricity transmission system operator announced that power has now been fully restored to the Basque region.
Update, 9:00AM ET: additional power restoration estimates have been included from Red Eléctrica.
Update, 11:40AM ET: further details from REN about the outage cause have been added.
