We’re closing this blog now as power begins to return to Spain and Portugal following an unprecedented regional blackout that remains unexplained. Here’s a summary of the key developments:
Nearly half of Spain’s national electricity supply had been restored before the end of the day, including to the Basque country and Barcelona areas in the early afternoon, and to parts of capital Madrid on Monday night. About 61% of electricity had been restored by late Monday, according to the national grid operator.
In Portugal power was also gradually returning including to the capital Lisbon. Grid operator REN said 85 out of 89 power substations were back online.
The cause of the blackout remains unclear. Portuguese prime minister Luis Montenegro suggested the issue originated in Spain and the Portuguese operator blamed it on extreme temperature variations. Spain’s grid operator REE blamed a connection failure with France for triggering a knock-on effect.
Montenegro said there was “no indication” a cyberattack had caused the blackout, which began around 1033 GMT. Nonetheless, rumours circulated of possible sabotage. Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez said nothing had been ruled out and that he had spoken to Nato secretary general Mark Rutte.
Sánchez said that the country had suffered a loss of 15GW of electricity generation in five seconds, equivalent to 60% of national demand. “This is something that has never happened before,” he said.
Spain’s interior ministry declared a national emergency and deployed 30,000 police across the country to keep order. Officials urged people to stay at home and many Spaniards took a half day off.
The two countries were left without trains, metros, traffic lights, ATMs, phone connections and internet access. Hospitals postponed routine operations but used generators to attend to critical cases, and while electronic banking was able to function on backup systems, most ATM screens were blank.
France and Morocco sent additional electricity to Spain. Sánchez said the shortfall would also be eased using gas and hydroelectric power.
If you’re just joining us, here’s our latest wrap of the main developments:
Spain’s king, Felipe VI, and prime minister Pedro Sánchez have decided that Felipe will preside over a meeting of the national security council tomorrow “given the special circumstances", the newspaper El País has reported, citing palace sources.
The king and queen have cancelled a planned visit to the city of Jaén in Andalusia on Tuesday.
Portugal’s grid operator REN said 85 of 89 power substations are working again, Reuters reports.
Updated
Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has said “everything possible is being done” overnight to restore power to all parts of the country following Monday’s unprecedented nationwide power cut.
Speaking late on Monday night, Sánchez said the idea was to get the power back on across Spain on Tuesday, adding that 50% of the national electricity supply had been restored in the past few hours.
He said it was still too early to know what had caused the cut, but that nothing was being ruled out.
“Just how long it will take to get back to normal is something that the [national grid operator] Red Eléctrica still can’t say for sure,” he said. “There has never been a drop to zero in the system before and the idea now is to keep on with the progressive and prudent restoration of the supply to avoid any setbacks over the coming hours.”
Sánchez said that the power cut originated at 12.33pm on Monday, when, for five seconds, 15 gigawatts of the energy that was being produced - equivalent to 60% of all the energy that was being used - suddenly disappeared.
“That’s something that has never happened before,” he added. “What prompted this sudden disappearance of the supply is something that the experts still haven’t been able to determine. But they will … All potential causes are being analysed and no hypothesis or possibility is being ruled out.”
He thanked France and Morocco for sending additional electricity to Spain, and said the current shortfall would be ease using gas and hydroelectric power.
Portugal’s prime minister, Luís Montenegro acknowledged that his country would need to have “more developed security mechanisms to be able to prevent one of these events from occurring with this impact, together with our partners”.
He added: “Spain has received help from its other connections, with France and Morocco, but we are dependent, in a situation of constraint, on the connection only with Spain.
“It is true that the circumstance of Spain having, particularly with Europe, connection limitations, then affects the supply capacity to Portugal.
“We have been fighting for a long time in the EU to have stronger interconnections with Europe, so that we can then have more autonomy, both to receive and to sell energy.”
Updated
Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said: “Almost 50% of the power supply has now been restored. Virtually all autonomous communities are reporting improvements. Citizens can and should rest assured.”
Authorities were yet to establish what had caused the blackout and were not ruling out any hypothesis, he added in a televised address.
Updated
Lisbon’s mayor, Carlos Moedas, urged residents to stay home on Tuesday, and to keep children away from school due to the power outage affecting the country.
According to CNN Portugal, Moedas said there would still be “some abnormality” in the situation tomorrow, at least until noon.
“Those who can stay home, do so. If you can prevent your children from going to school, do so,” he added.
Updated
A failure of the interconnection between the grids of Spain and France caused the massive power outage that hit most of the Iberian peninsula on Monday, La Vanguardia reported.
It quoted Spanish grid operator REE’s system operations chief, Eduardo Prieto.
Updated
By 10pm local time on Monday, 62% of Spain’s substations were back online (421 of 680) and 43.3% of the power demand had been met.
Portugal’s prime minister, Luís Montenegro, said power in the country would be fully restored in the coming hours after a massive outage hit Iberia.
He said all state services remained operating in the country despite the difficulties.
Updated
France has sent up to 2,000 MW of electricity to Spain via interconnections through Catalonia and the Basque Country, the French grid operator RTE said.
Spanish government sources said the power cut originated at 12.33pm, when, for five seconds, 15 gigawatts of the energy that was being produced - equivalent to 60% of all the energy that was being used - suddenly disappeared.
There are currently 11 trains awaiting rescue in Spain, according to transport minister Oscar Puente, who added that power has been restored at the Madrid Atocha command center.
By around 9.30pm local time, power returned to some parts of Madrid, but the reconnection was patchy and many streetlamps were not working, leaving dog-owners to exercise their pets by torchlight.
Meanwhile, the authorities in Gibraltar - where the power network was not affected by the power cut - advised people to take care while travelling across the border.
In a statement on Monday night, it said: “The government is aware of the power outages which are being reported in Spain and Portugal.
”It urges citizens of Gibraltar who have travelled across the border for the bank holiday today to exercise extreme caution, particularly at road junctions controlled by traffic lights, and to look to official sources for information and updates.
While the cause of the widespread power outage remains unknown, the public will be aware that Gibraltar is not connected to the European grid. Therefore, the electricity generation and distribution network in Gibraltar is currently operating normally.
”The border continues to flow normally for incoming and outgoing traffic. Pedestrians entering Gibraltar are being checked manually in the interim whilst the eGates on the Spanish side are out of service due to the power outage.”
The electricity supply begun to be restored in Greater Porto at around 8:20 pm local including in the areas of Boavista, Lordelo do Ouro, Foz and Hospital de São João, in the city of Porto, and also in the neighboring municipalities of Matosinhos and Maia.
The State Security Forces and Corps have deployed patrols throughout Spain.
Some 15,000 Citizen Security officers from the National Police and 15,000 Civil Guard officers, both from Citizen Security and the Traffic Unit, are on the streets.
Reserve units remain on alert in case their intervention is necessary, El Pais reported.
The electric power supply was restored in parts of central Lisbon after a mass blackout hit most of the Iberian Peninsula and caused disruptions for around nine hours, according to a Reuters witness.
Power was back in parts of Madrid an hour earlier.
Updated
Along a major thoroughfare in Madrid’s Argüelles neighbourhood, the restoration of the power supply prompted whoops of delight and a round of hearty applause among the many residents wandering the street.
Seconds earlier, a few residents had spotted lights blinking in the entry ways of apartment buildings. After more than eight hours without power, the restoration was confirmed by a young woman walking on the street who pointed to the traffic lights, yelling: “Look, they’re back!”
They’re among the lucky ones as power remains out in many parts of the country. Others were still stranded in traffic jams or struggling to make their way home after the city’s metro and commuter trains were halted by the outage.
Portugal’s prime minister Luís Montenegro wrote on X: “There is no time to lose!”.
He added the government is in “permanent contact” with the security forces, civil protection, armed forces, hospitals and fuel supply companies to “guarantee response capacity in essential infrastructures and support for those who need it”.
“We are working together to respond quickly to the power outage that is still affecting the country. We are also in contact with European institutions and partners,” the PM added.
Portugal’s airport operator, ANA Aeroportos, said no flight departures are expected from Humberto Delgado Airport in Lisbon until 10 pm.
“At Lisbon airport, operations remain limited, with power supplied by emergency generators, with four flights arriving and four departing in the last two hours,” the airport manager said in a statement reported by Publico.
At Porto and Faro airports, where flights from Lisbon are being diverted, “the operation continues to take place with the limitations arising from the situation”.
Support logistics are also being prepared for those who need to spend the night at the terminal, ANA added.
The electric power supply was restored in various parts of central Madrid on Monday after a mass blackout hit most of the Iberian Peninsula and caused disruptions for around eight hours, according to Reuters witnesses.
The Ministry of Education, Science, and Universities of the Community of Madrid has announced it will send instructions to all publicly funded educational centers to keep them open tomorrow but without classes.
“Due to the power outage experienced across Spain and the lack of information about when full power will be restored, there will be no classes, but the schools will be open with sufficient teachers to ensure student care for families in need,” the regional government stated, El Pais reported.
Updated
The airline Iberia has had to cancel 23 flights on Monday due to the power outage across the Iberian Peninsula, out of a total of 247 scheduled.
The Moroccan National Electricity Company (ONEE) has connected its grid to Spain via the two existing link lines across the Strait of Gibraltar, after receiving a request from Red Eléctrica Española (REE) to restore service through the interconnection between the two countries, El Pais is reporting.
Spain declares national emergency
Spain’s interior ministry has declared a national emergency after the nationwide power blackout, Reuters reports.
It added the emergency status will be applied in the regions that request it.
So far, Madrid, Andalusia and Extremadura have asked for the central government to take over public order and other functions.
Tickets for the entire Renfe commuter rail network in Spain will be free today when service resumes and on Tuesday, the public operator announced in a statement
The Ukraine government is offering energy aid to Spain, Portugal, and France, its foreign minister Andri Sibiha announced on behalf of president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
In a statement, Sibiha said Kyiv has contacted its counterparts in those three countries and emphasised the “extensive experience” his country has gained during the fourth year of the Russian invasion, during which energy infrastructure has been an almost constant target.
“We will remain in close contact with our partners for greater coordination,” Sibiha added.
Spain’s Ministry of Transport said 26 trains that were in service at the time of the outage are yet to be evacuated, of which 14 are on the Madrid-Seville line and eight more are on the Madrid-Barcelona line, El Pais is reporting.
Portuguese grid operator Redes Energéticas Nacionais said it had “no information” that the mass power outages that hit the Iberian Peninsula were caused by a cyberattack.
REN board member Joao Conceicao told reporters the operator did not rule out that the blackout was due to a “very large oscillation in the electrical voltages, first in the Spanish system, which then spread to the Portuguese system”.
“If it were up to REN, the country would wake up tomorrow with electricity, but unfortunately it’s not just REN that counts,” he added.
… and on that note, that’s a wrap from me, Jakub Krupa, but I leave you with Nadeem Badshah who will guide you through the evening and bring you all the latest updates from Spain and Portugal.
In Madrid, electricity outages can’t hold a candle to people power
Four long hours after the power went out across Spain, bringing trains to a halt in Madrid’s metro stations and sending people scurrying for light and taxis, the denizens of the Spanish capital were swinging between pragmatism and polite, almost jocular, panic.
Behind the counter of his neighbourhood bazaar in a quiet corner of the city, a shop owner reeled off a list of the afternoon’s most popular purchases: radios, batteries, torches and candles. As he finished, yet another optimistic customer entered the shop.
“I don’t suppose you’ve got any radios left?” The shop owner shook his head. No radios.
Outside, on the boulevard that runs between two local schools, families were trotting home and trying to plan the next few hours. “We’re worried,” said Reyes Paterna, who was running a quick mental inventory as she took her young daughter home, where her one-year-old baby was waiting.
“Nothing’s working. We’ve got stuff for the baby but nothing else,” she said. “We’ve got a camping stove at home but we’re not sure if there’s any gas left in the cylinder.”
Paterna was also anxious about her mother, who lives on her own in Murcia, 200 miles away. “She could be stuck in the lift for all we know!”
For Paterna and for everyone else in Madrid, the priorities were basic provisions and hoping that the patchy mobile phone coverage was restored as soon as possible, so that loved ones could be checked on and minds put at ease after hours of uncertainty.
Read the full report:
Updated
Priority sectors in Lisbon to see energy restored in five-six hours, operator says
Portuguese grid operator Redes Energéticas Nacionais expects priority sectors in the Greater Lisbon area of Portugal to see electricity supply restored within “five to six hours”, the REN’s director João Faria Conceição told reporters, Público reported.
In the Greater Porto region the power should be back in around two hours, he is reported as saying.
Rush hour travel disruptions in Spain, Portugal after power outage – in pictures
Spain, Portugal power outage 'spectacular' wake up call for countries
The risks posed to electrical systems by big variations in temperatures are well known in the industry, but it is rare for it to cause problems on the scale of the power outage in Spain and Portugal on Monday.
Transmitting power through wires comes with technical challenges. The air around conductors ionises, causing visible and audible electrical discharges known as corona discharges. That energy is lost. Extreme temperature variations cited by Portugal’s Redes Energéticas Nacionais can cause bigger problems by affecting metal wires at a molecular level, changing the frequency of the electrical current.
“Due to the variation of the temperature, the parameters of the conductor change slightly,” said Taco Engelaar, managing director at Neara, a software provider to energy utilities. “It creates an imbalance in the frequency.”
Once frequency drops below a certain level, power generators will automatically turn off in order to avoid overloading the grid.
Engelaar said that – if the atmospheric cause is confirmed – it would be a “pretty spectacular” wake-up call for other countries that they need to invest in resilience against climate risks.
“To see it at a national level, across two countries, I’ve never seen it in my career,” he said.
Portuguese energy company REN reportedly told the BBC that outages were caused by “induced atmospheric vibrations” caused by variations in air temperature in Spain.
These essentially cause power lines to oscillate – wave around – which can disrupt power supply and cause blackouts.
Prof Chenghong Gu, Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering, University of Bath, explained: “High temperature, high humidity, rough conductor surfaces, can cause corona effects on transmission conductors. The current in these conductors produce electric fields, and they can interact with the electric charges in the ambient atmosphere.
“Under certain conditions, this can cause the vibrations of conductors. Then, the vibrations can cause the changes of the physical characteristics of conductors, reflecting in their key parameters, such as their impedance, reactance.
The stability of power systems is very sensitive to these parameters, and if they keep changing, currents in transmission lines, voltages in different locations, and system frequency would change. In the worst case, system frequency could drop too low, and customers must be cut off to re-balance the supply and demand.”
Dr Grazia Todeschini, Reader in Engineering at King’s College London, cautioned that a definite cause has not yet been verified.
She said these situations usually only happen under exceptional circumstances. The weather in Spain has not been exceptional recently, though climate breakdown certainly could cause the conditions which could make blackouts more likely as electricity cables struggle in extreme weather, from heatwaves to storms.
Dr Todeschini explained: “Frequency recordings in various parts of continental Europe shows fluctuations before the disconnection took place, but at this stage attributing a source is still premature. It is worth noting that electricity system operators carry out studies to ensure system stability under contingency conditions. Therefore, these types of events are typically the results of exceptional circumstances.”
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said she spoke with the Portuguese prime minister, Luís Montenegro, this afternoon.
“We will work together to help restore the electricity system and reassure citizens. Because energy security is crucial for the EU,” she said.
She earlier posted about her separate conversation with the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez (15:59).
Thanks for all your messages on how the power cut affected you and your loved ones in Spain and Portugal.
We can’t always bring all voices in on the blog, but it helps us build a fuller picture of what’s going on and inform our reporting. Thank you!
Updated
In a series of social media updates, the Portuguese government has issued similar recommendations for residents affected by the power loss, asking them to avoid unnecessary travels and not spread false information or speculative posts about the causes of the blackout.
One of the graphics reiterated that the National Cybersecurity Centre had no indication that the power cut was caused by a cyber-attack.
Major power outage causes chaos in Spain and Portugal – video
Portuguese media are also reporting gradual resumption of energy supplies across the country starting with priority recipients such hospitals, airports and other parts of critical infrastructure.
The electricity grid operator will host a press conference at 8pm local time, Público reports.
Around 30,000 passengers are being evacuated by the Spanish rail operator Renfe from trains stranded as a result of today’s blackout, the Spanish news agency EFE reported.
A source told the agency that 116 trains were en route at the time of the outage.
Jason was among passengers affected as he emailed earlier to say he was stuck “about 30-40 miles southwest of Madrid, near Toledo.” Many of you also reported issues getting to and from various airports in the country.
Spain's Sánchez hopeful about restoring energy; urges residents to minimise travel, not speculate as to causes, use phones responsibly
Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez has just given a press conference offering an update on the situation in the country.
The prime minister acknowledged the “tremendous” impact on the lives of residents but sought to reassure them that the government was working on resolving the problem as soon as possible. In three regions of Andalusia, Extremadura, and Madrid the government will use extra emergency powers under civil protection laws.
Sanchez said that the process of restoring energy was under way across the country, thanks to interconnectors with France and Morocco and domestic energy sources, which should allow the energy supply to be restored “soon.”
He said that “a strong technical fluctuation in the European electricity system” led to the blackout but that there was no “conclusive information” on what specifically caused it.
He pointedly warned against speculating about the cause of the outage. “We are not ruling out any hypothesis, but we must focus on what is most important, which is restoring electricity to our homes,” he said.
Sanchez said that the hospital system was functioning despite the difficulties thanks to power generators, and while ATMs are affected, the underlying banking systems are operating normally. He also talked about train and air travel, in line with previous updates we brought you in this blog.
Sanchez also asked residents to minimise travel, not spread unverified information, and use mobile phones “responsibly” by keeping calls short and using the emergency 112 line only when necessary.
Another meeting of the national security council has been called for 7pm local time, he said.
When Doug Craib, a 60-year-old based in Brighton, boarded the 9.57am Madrid to Barcelona train to visit a friend on Monday morning, he was excited to travel on an affordable high speed rail network, with the under three-hour journey costing him £25.47.
But before he got to Barcelona, the train shuddered to a halt on the tracks. It was caught up in the mass outages that have plagued Spain, Portugal and parts of southern France on Monday.
For a while there was no mobile signal, and the doors remained sealed for about two hours until authorities arrived, open the doors and gave out drinks.
About six hours into being stuck on the train, one woman, who appeared to be in her twenties, had a panic attack amid the high temperatures, he said. “The air in the carriages is thick and hot,” Craib told the Guardian.
As we reported, Spain’s intercity trains will not be restored on Monday.
“The fire brigade are here now and they are getting people into the fresh air and police have brought more water,” he said. “I can’t see that evacuation would be simple so I’m guessing we will stay.”
Craib has given up hope of reaching his friend in Barcelona anytime soon.
Travel disruptions after energy outrage in Spain, Portugal - in pictures
Travel plans chaos as Spanish intercity trains won't be restored today
Spanish transport minister Óscar Puente said intercity trains will not be restored today as the country continues to work on bringing back electricity supply after a major disruption earlier today.
“We are working to ensure that, once the power supply is restored, we can resume these services, which will no longer be possible today,” he warned.
He added that it would take time to “restore the control systems” including safety mechanisms.
“The goal is to be able to provide service tomorrow if we recover power today, so tonight we will prioritise repositioning trains and resetting systems over the maintenance work being carried out at night,” he explained.
He added that Spanish airports were largely operating as normal using backup supply and generators, with 20% reduction in service for safety reasons.
Spain energy consumption gradually going back up - reports
The Spanish news agency EFE reported that the electricity consumption as of 16:30 local time has just gone above 50% of what would be normally expected at this time of the day, as the grid operation gradually restores energy in more parts of the country.
According to the latest update from Red Eléctrica, electricity supply is back in the areas of:
Catalonia, Aragon, the Basque Country, Galicia, Asturias, Navarre, Castile and León, Extremadura and Andalusia.
The grid operator added that it was “working in coordination with companies in the sector to gradually restore service throughout the peninsula.”
Updated
Portuguese PM hopes to see energy restored in coming hours
Portuguese prime minister Luís Montenegro called for patience as emergency services were working to restore energy in the country in the coming hours, according to comments reported by the Público and Diário de Notícias dailies.
Montenegro also said there was no indication the outage was caused by a cyber-attack, but noted it was too early to rule out any scenario.
He also indicated the grid failure “did not originate in Portugal,” with the country hit as a knock on effect of an issue in Spain.
‘No cause’ of outage identified yet, but 'no evidence' of cyberattack, EU’s Costa says
I have just watched the European Council president António Costa’s press conference on his trip to Bulgaria, alongside the host country’s prime minister Rosen Zhelyazkov.
Costa, who led the Portuguese government between 2015 and 2024, confirmed he spoke with Spanish and Portuguese prime minister and the managers of the grids in both countries.
“For the time being, they have not identified the cause of this shutdown, but they are working to supply the energy,” he said, adding that some regions see deliveries resumed.
“They have not … identified the cause, but there is no evidence that it was a cyber-attack,” he said, before adding: “For the time being, we need to wait.”
The Madrid Open tennis competition has cancelled all matches scheduled for today, amid the continuing nationwide power cut in Spain.
Spanish electricity grid operator Red Eléctrica says it is slowly restoring energy supplies to substations in several areas of the country.
It said in a statement, posted online, that it’s working with “the relevant authorities and agencies” to “gradually allow the electricity supply to be restored throughout the peninsula.”
'No indications of any cyber-attack,' EU's Costa says as he confirms contact with Spanish, Portuguese leaders
European Council president António Costa, a former Portuguese prime minister, has just confirmed earlier report that he’s in touch with Spanish and Portuguese leaders about the power outage affecting the countries.
“Grid operators in both countries are working on finding the cause, and on restoring the electricity supply,” he says.
But he added that “at this point, there are no indications of any cyber-attack.”
Disruptions in Spain, Portugal - in pictures
'Impossible' to say when electricity will be restored in Portugal, operator says
The Portuguese grid operator Redes Energéticas Nacionais, or REN, said it is still impossible to know how long Portugal will be without power after a massive blackout that also affected Spain and parts of France.
“At this time it is still impossible to predict when the situation will be normalised,” operator said in a statement, adding it had “all resources deployed” to resolve the blackout, AFP reported.
Spanish state-owned railway infrastructure manager Adif urged passengers not to come to train stations or attempt travelling, as rail services remain suspended.
Various portuguese media, including Público, are reporting that a televised debate between the country’s prime minister Luís Montenegro and his rival Pedro Nuno Santos ahead of next month’s parliamentary election has been postponed as a result of the disruption.
Let’s bring in more of your stories of how you’re dealing with the blackout in Spain and Portugal.
Todd emailed in the last few minutes saying that his area in Barcelona, Spain just saw power restored. He earlier said he was inside a local shopping centre when the power went out, with many customers still shopping until they were told to leave the building.
“Everyone seemed to be taking it in stride. We’re back in our hotel. … Like everyone else, we’re just waiting it out,” he said.
Victor messaged me about his tricky trip to Barcelona airport, where he was held on a train for 40 minutes, before being told to “get off the train and walk along the tracks for 5 km … to reach the nearest station.”
“There were people crying and with panic attacks. It’s been total chaos,” he says.
Lots of others also describing your tricky experiences at airports, including Pia, Stephen, Mandy, Bernardo, and Paul. Hope you all get safely to where you need to be soon.
Gabrielle writes in from Porto, Portugal, as she says that there is still no power and she cannot get any money from ATM or any food or drink, and she is locked out of her room as it’s got an electronic lock.
“I’m travelling in Portuguese trains tomorrow so hopefully resolved by then,” she ends on a positive note.
Emma is a student in Valencia, and she says the power went out just after she had got off a job interview. “I am just thankful that the power grid was nice enough to let me finish my successful attempt at job hunting!” she says. Fingers crossed, Emma!
“I luckily managed to find some matches and candles to light up in case this continues throughout the night. Despite all of this I am lucky and thankful that I didn’t get stuck on the metro or an elevator like so many people out there right now,” she adds.
Annabel also expressed concern over vulnerable groups with limited access to food, drinks and transport during the outage.
She makes a strong point:
They don’t drive and public transport is either stopped (trams) or gridlocked. They cant go to the cafe as most use card machines to pay or cash but the bank machines arent working. They are literally stuck on the street not knowing what to do. So. its really nothing to laugh about. … A nightmare not siesta time.
Sarah emailed about her stressful experience of the outage at a Seville hospital; hope it all goes well for you and your daughter!
If you are in Spain or Portugal, you can send me your stories to jakub.krupa@theguardian.com.
European Commission's von der Leyen offers EU's support to Spain in call with Sánchez
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said in a social media post that she spoke with Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez this afternoon about the power outage affecting the Iberian peninsula.
She said the commision was helping with “monitoring the situation with national and European authorities and our Electricity Coordination Group.”
“We will coordinate efforts and share information to help restore the electricity system, and agreed to stay in close contact,” she added.
No evidence outage was caused by deliberate act, senior EU commissioner says
Senior European Commission vice-president Teresa Ribera told the Spanish Radio 5 that there is no evidence at this stage that the outage is the result of a deliberate act, such as sabotage or a cyber-attack.
Just spoke to an officer guarding a metro station in Madrid – he said that when the power went out, the metro came to a dead stop and people had to be pulled out of the wagons. It was quickly emptied of people, they said, and remains completely closed off and empty.
ATMs are still down, and officers are directing traffic as lights remain out and waves of people mill the streets.
Clothing giant Zara’s flagship store has closed their doors, others are allowing people to peruse in the dark. Hotels have kept their doors open to their darkened lobbied as tourists continue to stream in from across the city.
Let’s go to Ashifa to hear the latest from the streets of Madrid.
Spanish public broadcaster RTVE and newspaper El País report a meeting of the Spanish national security council was due to start at 3pm local time, as per government sources.
Portuguese daily newspaper Público has reported that European Council president António Costa is in contact with Spanish and Portuguese prime ministers over the blackout affecting the Iberian peninsula, according to the paper’s European sources.
Costa, a former Portuguese prime minister between 2015 and 2024, is on an official visit to Bulgaria today.
We should hear from him in the coming hours, according to the Europe by Satellite service’s schedule. He is scheduled to take part in a press conference with Bulgarian prime minister Rosen Zhelyazkov.
'Six to ten hours' to restore energy in Spain,' official says
Multiple Spanish media are carrying quotes from a senior director at Spanish grid operator Red Eléctrica saying it could take “between six and ten” hours to restore energy across the country, as he calls it an unprecedented incident.
Eduardo Prieto, director of operations at Red Eléctrica, declined to comment on the causes of the outage.
European Commission in contact with Spain, Portugal over power outages
The European Commission has said it is in contact with national authorities in Spain and Portugal over the massive power outages.
It is also in touch with the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E).
“The Commission is in contact with the national authorities of Spain and Portugal as well as ENTSO-E to understand the underlying cause and the impact of the situation.
The Commission will keep monitoring the situation and make sure that there is smooth information exchange amongst all relevant parties.
As per EU legislation in place (emergency and restoration network code), there are protocols in place to restore the functioning of the system.”
I’m also picking up a lot of understandable concern as to the cause of the outage in your emails, but we are obviously steering clear of any speculation on this.
We will bring you updates on this when we get it from official sources.
Your experiences of blackout in Spain, Portugal
I’m getting first emails from you on your experiences of the major power outage in Spain and Portugal.
Jason emailed to say he is “stuck on a Renfe train from Seville about 30-40 miles southwest of Madrid near Toledo,” “stopped on a curve with no real way to be rescued should it come to that.”
“We have no idea when we will be moving again and have little to no info as data is intermittent,” he adds.
James writes in to say he just spoke with a friend in Lagos, Portugal, who reported “no power to the town or surrounding villages,” with schools closing and disrupted mobile coverage.
Nuno is in Guimarães in Portugal and reports that “emergency shoppers crowd the few supermarkets with generators at lunchtime as parents pick students from closed schools.”
Sebastian messaged me from Porto, Portugal, saying “everyone is walking around with nothing to do,” as he worries about problems with payments and shop supplies.
“I am locked out of my apartment as the building has electronic key, que for cash (of the few ATMs working) are long with many people taking out significant sums,” he says.
But he adds that the Portuguese are generally “very relaxed.”
Some people affected indeed appear to be taking it easy (at least for now).
John says that in Torremolinos, Spain “a jolly atmosphere reigns, at least for now,” with fervent and jokey speculations about the cause of the outage.
He adds that the lack of cash caused some panic at the tobacco shop.
(Another) James emailed to say his parents are in Nerja, near Málaga in Spain, on the Costa del Sol. He says the power cut is affecting their ability to pay in some shops and is disrupting supermarkets and restaurants.
But he cheerfully adds:
“Whilst the power cut is of course stressful, the sun is still shining and they’re enjoying a beer.”
(And to confirm that, he even sent me the picture of the said drinks!)
Blackout in Spain, Portugal - in pictures
Spanish blackout in charts - visual
And here’s a useful chart showing the exact moment when the outage happened in Spain, using the data from grid operator Red Eléctrica.
Affected by Spain, Portugal blackouts? Email the blog
If you are in Spain or Portugal and affected by the blackouts, email me with your experiences and pictures on jakub.krupa@theguardian.com.
I mentioned earlier the situation of tennis fans after Madrid Open matches were postponed due to power failure affecting the Iberian Peninsula.
Here is the exact moment of the power cut, during a post-match interview with Coco Gauff as the LED ad boards turn black, and the stadium PA system stops working.
The exact moment Spain, Portugal and other parts of Europe lost power. pic.twitter.com/B0O4oQDHfh
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) April 28, 2025
Updated
Spanish government investigates origins, 'all resources' focused on solving blackout
The Spanish government has just confirmed the prime minister Pedro Sánchez’s emergency trip to the national grid operator Red Eléctrica as officials work “to understand the origin" of the incident and what can be done to resolve it quickly.
Here is the statement in full:
The prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has traveled to the control centre of Red Eléctrica, together with the third vice president of the Government and Minister for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, Sara Aagesen, to see firsthand the situation generated in the electricity supply.
The government is working to understand the origin and the impact of this incident and dedicating all resources towards solving it as soon as possible.
We will convey all available information as we have rigourous and verified data.
Our community affairs correspondent Ashifa Kassam is in Madrid, near the city’s main thoroughfare of Gran Via.
She says thousands of people in – locals and tourists – are milling around between vehicles, wondering what to make of all this. Police officers are directing traffic as it’s in the heart of the city.
Spanish, Portugese governments to convene emergency cabinet meetings - media
Spanish newspaper El País is reporting plans for an crisis meeting of the Spanish government, to be attended by the country’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez, and finance, environment and transport ministers, to discuss “the worst power outage in recent history” of the country.
Spanish news agency EFE earlier reported that Sánchez was planning to visit the headquarters of the national grid operator.
Similarly, Portuguese newspaper Diário de Notícias is reporting that a special government meeting has also been called in Portugal.
In Madrid, residents packed into outdoor terraces, others gathered around radios trying to figure out what’s happening. Radio announcers are advising people to ensure they have flashlights in their homes tonight as nobody knows how long this will go on.
Blackout in Spain, Portugal - in pictures
Spanish health ministry said in a social media update that it was in contact with regional authorities to “assess the scope of the widespread blackout,” but sought to reassure the public that “hospitals have supplementary systems” in place.
Spanish airport operator Aena warned of disruptions on its social media account, saying that while contingency power operators are in use, “there may be issues” affecting ground operations.
Air traffic in Spain, Portugal affected by outages - Flightradar
Air traffic monitoring service Flightradar reported issues in Spain and Portugal related to “widespread electrical outages affecting both countries.”
“We’re not yet seeing widespread cancellations, but we are monitoring the situation as it develops,” they said.
Russia declares surprise three-day ceasefire in Ukraine around Victory Day anniversary
Elsewhere – there’s a lot of news happening today! – Russian president Vladimir Putin has declared a full ceasefire in Ukraine between 8 and 10 May as Russia celebrates the Victory Day over Nazi Germany, AP reported.
“Russia believes that the Ukrainian side should follow this example. In the event of violations of the truce by the Ukrainian side, the Russian armed forces will give an adequate and effective response,” the Kremlin said, in a statement reported by AFP.
But Russia has said it would ensure “an adequate and effective response” in case of ceasefire violations by Ukraine.
Madrid residents hit by energy disruptions
On the streets of Madrid’s Arguelles neighbourhood neighbours milled around, trading stories of friends caught in different places, from the metro to traffic jams caused by downed traffic lights.
One doorman told of helping an elderly lady trapped between floors in her elevator when the power went out, others rushed to the supermarket to stock up on basics — only to realise they had no cash on them, only cards that don’t work.
Spanish electricity grid operator Red Eléctrica said in a social media update it was “beginning to recover power” in parts of the Iberian Peninsula, but it continued working on the outage.
Major disruptions across cities, transport systems in Spain, Portugal - reports
To give you an idea about the extent of power outages in Spain and Portugal, here’s a quick round up of reported consequences via their national media:
Barcelona and Seville are among major Spanish cities affected, with Barcelona, Valencia and Madrid metro systems reportedly affected, and disruptions at Madrid’s Barajas Airport, which reports delays in flights (El Mundo, Barajas website).
Spain’s national railway operator Renfe reported stopping trains as a result of the disruption.
Widespread disruptions were reported in Portugal, affecting mobile networks, transport services, and airports, as well as traffic lights in Lisbon and Porto (El Pais, Publico).
The exact extent of the outages and the number of people affected are not immediately clear.
This is a developing story.
Updated
Vatican confirms Conclave to begin on 7 May
The Vatican has now confirmed that the conclave to elect a successor to Pope Francis will begin on 7 May.
Spain, Portugal report major electricity disruptions
We are hearing reports from Spain and Portugal about a major disruption to energy supply in the two countries.
Electricity grid operator Red Eléctrica said it has activated plans to restore the supply, with “all resources dedicated to solving” the disruption.
Portuguese media are reporting severe disruptions to telecoms and transport operations.
This is a developing story; we will bring you more as soon as we can.
Updated
Greenland ready for strong partnership with US, but 'never piece of property that can be bought,' prime minister says
Elsewhere, in his first visit to Denmark since becoming the Greenlandic PM, Jens-Frederik Nielsen announced over the weekend that Greenland is ready for a “strong partnership” with the US, but warned that Greenland will “never, ever be a piece of property that can be bought”.
The press conference on Sunday – in which the Danish PM, Mette Frederiksen, took a more conciliatory tone than previously, conceding that the Danish kingdom needed to modernise – came amid a flurry of diplomacy between Denmark and Greenland.
Today, Nielsen will visit the Danish King, Frederik, at Amalienborg palace in Copenhagen before flying together to Nuuk where they are due to arrive tonight.
On Tuesday, the King will have a coffee meeting open to the public in Nuuk before later going on a hike and in the evening attending a Greenlandic government dinner. On Wednesday he will visit biology students at Sila before heading to the most northerly staffed station in Greenland with Danish defence minister, Troels Lund Poulsen. On Thursday he will head out with the Sirius dog sled patrol, a unit of the Danish Special Forces Command.
It comes after a tense few months between Copenhagen and Nuuk after Trump’s election to the White House during which he has made repeated threats to gain control of Greenland – a former Danish colony that remains part of the Danish kingdom – and sent his vice-president, JD Vance, to visit the US military base in Greenland, Pituffik, so soon after Greenland’s general election that the government’s new coalition had yet to be formally announced.
Soon after, Frederiksen visited Nuuk for the first time in over a year during which she issued a message to Trump from an inspection ship, saying: “You cannot annex another country.”
Conclave to elect new pope to begin on 7 May - Reuters
We are just getting a line from Reuters news agency saying that the Conclave to elect new pope will start on 7 May, according to its source.
We have not independently verified this report.
Sistine Chapel to be closed from today 'for requirements of Conclave'
The Sistine Chapel will be closed to the public from today “for the requirements of the Conclave,” the Vatican Museums said in a statement.
The message welcomes visitors to the Vatican Museums’ website.
It adds that all tours of the Vatican Gardens and the Necropolis of the Via Triumphalis are also suspended.
No date for Trump-von der Leyen meeting, EU spokesperson says
The commission spokespeople got also asked about the brief conversation between Trump and commission president Ursula von der Leyen at Pope Francis’s funeral during which the pair reportedly agreed to meet at a later date.
Pinho said there was “no date for the moment,” with only early “interest expressed,” as she added that “the right moment for it will be when there is a package to be agreed upon at the level of the two presidents.”
Pressed further, she said “there are a number of issues on the table,” including tariffs," adding that there are “no further details.”
“The funeral of Pope Francis was not the moment or the place to discuss … such details,” she said.
EU welcomes Trump's comments acknowledging Russia's attacks, says North Korean backing shows Russia's desperation
At the European Commission’s midday press briefing, the chief spokesperson Paula Pinho has just been asked about the EU’s reaction to Donald Trump’s comments over the weekend after he met with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of Pope Francis’s funeral.
She said:
President Zelensky has been very much aligned with the EU position, and vice versa, we’ve been very much aligned with President Zelensky on the position with regard to peace and negotiations regarding a ceasefire agreement, where absolutely the position of Ukraine is the determining position.
We’ve also heard, indeed, the comments by President Trump after these talks, and we welcome those comments that go in the sense of also acknowledging that the attacks of Russia on Ukraine, which, by the way, continued over the weekend, cannot be accepted.
Adding to her comments, the commission’s spokesperson on foreign policy, Anita Hipper, said that “Russia’s deepening military cooperation with North Korea … sends a very clear message: Russia is not interested in peace; on the contrary, Russia’s goal remains to suppress Ukraine, and Russia is desperately seeking any help they can get to help with this illegal aggression.”
She said it was a sign of Russia’s “desperation” to rely on North Korea, and stressed it showed “just … how isolated they are.”
Updated
25 arrested after spate of attacks on French prisons
Twenty five people were arrested in police raids across France after a series of coordinated attacks on prisons rattled the government this month, a source close to the case said, AFP reported.
The early morning arrests took place outside Paris as well as in Marseille, Lyon and Bordeaux, the source told AFP.
Unknown assailants this month hit several jails and other facilities across France, torching cars, spraying the entrance of one prison with automatic gunfire, and leaving mysterious inscriptions.
The assaults have embarrassed the right-leaning government whose tough-talking Justice and Interior ministers, Gérald Darmanin and Bruno Retailleau, have vowed to intensify the fight against narcotics and drug-related crime.
Bardella ready to stand in for Le Pen in 2027 race
In other European developments over the weekend, the National Rally leader Jordan Bardella said he would be ready to step in as the French far-right’s presidential candidate in 2027 if Marine Le Pen is ultimately barred from running.
Le Pen was handed a five-year public office ban after a court found her and some members of her party guilty in March of misappropriation of funds.
The Paris appeals court has said it will deliver a verdict on her case by next summer, potentially allowing her to contest the 2027 presidential race if her conviction is overturned, which is seen as unlikely, or the ban on running for public office lifted.
Speaking to the Le Parisien newspaper, he insisted that “Marine is presumed innocent and we will continue to use all possible means … to continue to proclaim our innocence in this matter.”
But in quotes translated by AFP, he added:
“There is no ambiguity about the fact that Marine Le Pen is my candidate, and if she was prevented tomorrow, I think I would be able to say to you that I will be the candidate. I cannot be clearer than that.”
Vatican expected to set timeline for pope election
Meanwhile in the Vatican, cardinals are expected on Monday to pick a date for the conclave to elect a new leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, after the death of Pope Francis, AFP said.
Under the rules, a conclave should begin 15 and 20 days after a pope’s death or resignation, indicating an early May date, when the official period of mourning ends.
There are more than 250 cardinals in total, but those over the age of 80 are ineligible to take part in the conclave. That leaves 135 eligible cardinals, most of them appointed by Pope Francis.
Updated
Russia 'ready' for talks, but demands recognition of occupied territories
Russia claimed it was ready to conduct talks with Ukraine ‘without any preconditions’, AFP said state media reported, after US president Donald Trump questioned Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s willingness to halt the three-year offensive.
But then in other comments, reported almost simultaneously by AFP, the country’s most senior diplomat said that its claims over five Ukrainian regions including Crimea were “imperative” to talks aimed at resolving the conflict.
“International recognition of Russia’s ownership of Crimea, Sevastopol, the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Luhansk People’s Republic, the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions is imperative,” foreign minister Sergei Lavrov told Brazilian newspaper O Globo, using the Kremlin’s names for the Ukrainian regions.
In the interview, published online here, Lavrov also said the ball was “not in our court” as he tried to put pressure on Kyiv to make concessions in order to progress the talks.
Pro-Ukraine politician picked to lead German diplomacy in Merz's government
In good news for Kyiv elsewhere, Johann Wadephul, an experienced pro-Ukraine politician from the conservative CDU, will be Germany’s next foreign minister, the party said in a statement.
Wadephul, 62, has long been a close confidant of incoming chancellor Friedrich Merz and a key adviser to him on foreign policy issues, AFP noted, adding that he is known for pushing for more weapons to support Ukraine.
Wadephul will be the first German foreign minister from CDU since 1966.
In other interesting appointments, Katherina Reiche is expected to get the economy portfolio, and Karsten Wildberger, CEO of MediaMarktSaturn Retail Group, will lead the new digital ministry tasked with rapid digitisation of public services.
But all of these appointments hinge on the CDU/CSU-SPD coalition deal being formally confirmed by SPD members. Their vote closes tomorrow, with the result expected on Wednesday.
If all goes well, Merz should be formally elected new chancellor, replacing Olaf Scholz, in early May.
Updated
Morning opening: What's next for Ukraine?
US President Donald Trump has said he thinks Volodymyr Zelenskyy is ready to give up Crimea, despite his Ukrainian counterpart’s previous assertions on the Black Sea peninsula that was annexed by Russia in 2014.
Not sure if Zelenskyy or Ukraine will agree with that suggestion.
Speaking over the weekend, just days after the pair met at Pope Francis’s funeral in the Vatican, Trump said “Oh, I think so,” in response to a question on whether he thought Zelenskyy was ready to “give up” the territory.
German defence minister Boris Pistorius on Sunday said the US proposal for Ukraine to cede territory to Russia was “akin to a capitulation”.
In an interview with the broadcaster ARD, he said that Kyiv knew that a peace agreement may involve territorial concessions.
“But these will certainly not go … as far as they do in the latest proposal from the US president,” Pistorius said. “Ukraine on its own could have got a year ago what was included in that [Trump] proposal, it is akin to a capitulation. I cannot discern any added value.”
Despite the comments on Crimea, the US president expressed newfound sympathy for his Ukrainian counterpart on Sunday, saying he “wants to do something good for his country” and “is working hard”.
Asked what he wants Putin to do, Trump replied: “Well, I want him to stop shooting. Sit down and sign the deal. We have the confines of a deal, I believe, and I want him to sign it and be done with it.”
“Do you trust President Putin?” Trump was asked.
“I’ll let you know in about two weeks,” Trump said.
Just this morning, Putin thanked North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for the “feat” of Pyongyang’s troops in helping wrest back the area held by Ukraine in Russia’s Kursk region, AFP reported.
“The Korean friends acted, guided by the sentiments of solidarity, justice and real camaraderie,” the Kremlin cited Putin as saying.
Let’s see what updates we’re going to get during the day.
We are also expecting updates on the new government formation process in Germany, a Danish royal visit to Greenland, and potential updates on the timeline for the process to pick Pope Francis’s successor.
It’s Monday, 28 April 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
