Spain-Portugal power outage live: Blackouts cause transport chaos across both countries

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Parts of Madrid’s underground network has also been evacuated, and traffic lights are not working in the city.

Spain's public broadcaster RTVE said a major power outage hit several regions of the country at around 12:30 pm local time, leaving its newsroom in the dark.

The country’s railway operator, Renfe, added that the “entire National Electricity Grid was cut off” and that trains were unable to depart from stations.

Spain's electricity grid operator Red Electrica has confirmed power outages across the country and said “all resources are being dedicated to solving it”.

Meanwhile in Portugal, the outage hit the capital, Lisbon, and surrounding areas, as well as northern and southern parts of the country.

E-Redes, a Spanish electricity grid monitoring company, said in a statement it was working on reestablishing connection in phases.

"This is a wider European problem," it added.

Blackouts due to a 'problem with distribution network in Spain'

In Portugal, a country of some 10.6 million people, the outage hit the capital, Lisbon, and surrounding areas, as well as northern and southern parts of the country.

Portugal's government said the incident appeared to stem from problems outside the country, an official told national news agency Lusa.

"It looks like it was a problem with the distribution network, apparently in Spain. It's still being ascertained," Cabinet Minister Leitïo Amaro was quoted as saying.

Portuguese distributor E-Redes said the outage was due to "a problem with the European electricity system," according to Portuguese newspaper Expresso.

The company said it was compelled to cut power in specific areas to stabilize the network, according to Expresso.

Holly Evans28 April 2025 13:19

Major power outage hits Spain shortly after midday

Spain's public broadcaster RTVE said a major power outage hit several regions of the country just after midday local time, leaving its newsroom, Spain's parliament in Madrid and subway stations across the country in the dark.

A graph on Spain's electricity network website showing demand across the country indicated a steep drop around 12:15 pm from 27,500MW to near 15,000MW.

A couple of hours later, Spain's electricity network operator said it was recovering power in the north and south of the peninsula, which would help to progressively restore the electricity supply nationwide.

Spanish citizens left in the dark after a major power outage

Holly Evans28 April 2025 13:17

Read the full story: Spain and Portugal hit by nationwide power outages

Spain and Portugal have been hit by a power outage covering wide areas across the two countries. Capitals Madrid and Lisbon are included in the outages as grid operators work to resolve the issue.

Spanish power grid operator Red Electrica said it was working with energy companies to restore power in affected areas.

Parts of France may also be affected, Spanish media has reported, alongside large Spanish cities like Seville, Barcelona and Valencia. Reports also indicate that telephone lines are down in parts of the country.

Read the full article here:

Holly Evans28 April 2025 13:16