A nationwide phone network has shut down in Spain just weeks after blackouts brought chaos and heavy financial damage to the country.
Emergency services in a number of regions had to provide new telephone numbers for those in need, after phone lines collapsed following network upgrades by Telefonica.
Landline telephones were the worst affected but all voice services by Telefonica appear to have been affected to some extent, according to reports in Spanish media.
A Telefónica spokesperson said: “We have done some network upgrade work which has affected some companies' fixed communication services (voice and internet).
“We are working on resolving this and some of the affected services have already been recovered, such as the 112 emergency services, which have now been re-established.”
Regions including Aragón, Extremadura, the Basque Country and the Valencia community all suffered impacts on their emergency service line, earlier warning that residents would not be able to use the 112 number.
The 112 number has now been restored in the Valencia community, Aragon, La Rioja, and Andalusia, among other areas.
The Downdetector website reported that issues began at around 2am, according to El Pais. Of those reporting issues, 72 per cent were outages, 18 per cent related to having no signal, and 10 per cent were to do with a “total outage” in their area.
Spain’s Ministry for Digital Transformation and Civil Service told the outlet that it is "monitoring the situation, requesting precise information and timescales for a solution”.
In the Basque region, the incident is not affecting all calls but is occurring randomly and beyond the control of the regional government’s Emergency Management Centre.
It came after millions across Spain and Portugal were left in the dark in late April when an unprecedented power outage brought much of the Iberian peninsula to a standstill.
Spain’s electrical grid was down for almost 23 hours before the systems were back up and running as normal, with the outage affecting traffic lights, street lamps, payment terminals, and screens.
Domestic and international transport was badly hit with metro systems grinding to a halt and communication networks faltering, leaving many wondering what had gone wrong. Hundreds of flights were canceled at airports across Spain and Portugal.
Spain has ordered inquiries involving government, security agencies and technical experts. A high court judge has launched a probe into whether a cyber attack was to blame.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and power grid operator REE's chief Beatriz Corredor have both said record levels of renewable energy were not to blame for the blackout.
Football fans face paying thousands of pounds for Europa League final trips
Vodafone swings to loss but says German arm will return to growth this year
Equatorial Guinea prevails in dispute with neighboring Gabon over oil-rich islands
British passport holders to be allowed to use e-gates at more EU airports
Ukraine war latest: Zelensky says Putin ‘buying time’ after Trump call
Jim Morrison bust found by chance after disappearing from cemetery 37 years ago
