On Monday, a massive power outage swept across the Iberian Peninsula, impacting large areas of Portugal and Spain, with minor effects felt in parts of southwestern France. The blackout wreaked havoc, shutting down entire subway systems, traffic signals, and leaving tens of millions of residents in darkness. Officials have projected that it may take up to ten hours to restore full power across affected regions.

The outage commenced early Monday morning and primarily affected Portugal and Spain. By approximately 12:15 p.m. local time, electricity demand in Spain plummeted dramatically from 27,500 megawatts to just 15,000 megawatts, indicating the severity of the crisis. Major cities such as Lisbon and Madrid, along with other significant urban centers like Barcelona, Valencia, and Bilbao, experienced significant disruptions. In France, only some areas in the southwest reported outages, but power was restored relatively quickly.

Portugal and Spain, which together boast a combined population exceeding 50 million, are served by an interconnected power grid managed by Redes Energticas Nacionais in Portugal and Red Elctrica in Spain. Although the precise cause of the blackout remains unclear, Eduardo Prieto, the director of Red Elctrica, attributed the incident to a very strong oscillation in the electrical network. Meanwhile, Sky News reported that REN, the Portuguese grid operator, cited rare atmospheric phenomena as a possible factor behind the electrical disturbances.

The ramifications of the outage were widespread, affecting every facet of daily life. Transportation was severely hindered, with airports facing delays and cancellations, while automated teller machines (ATMs) and electric vehicle charging stations became non-operational. Fuel pumps were also affected, contributing to panic buying among residents, who rushed to supermarkets in search of essential supplies. One resident from Castellon shared their distress, stating, We have a newborn baby, no electric and no water. Its chaos outside. There are car accidents because of the traffic light failures, and people are stuck in elevators in our apartment building.

Social media was flooded with videos capturing the chaos of the Madrid Open tennis tournament, which abruptly halted after the power outage left fans in total darkness. Footage from Bilbao depicted individuals walking on cable car tracks after the service was suspended due to the outages. As panic set in, many supermarkets reported shortages of critical items, with people frantically trying to stock up on bottled water and other essentials.

In response to the crisis, Red Elctrica announced that it was working closely with local authorities to mitigate the situation. Additionally, Politico reported that Spain convened an emergency meeting of the National Security Council to investigate the outage. However, European Commission Executive Vice President Teresa Ribera stated, At the moment, there is nothing that allows us to say that there is any kind of sabotage or cyberattack. This statement aimed to quell rising fears about potential malicious intents behind the blackout.

It is worth noting that such extensive power outages are relatively rare in Europe. According to Reuters, one of the few comparable incidents occurred back in 2003, when a hydroelectric power line malfunctioned between Italy and Switzerland, resulting in a twelve-hour blackout across the Italian peninsula. In light of the current crisis, Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko expressed solidarity on social media, offering Ukraine's expertise and assistance, particularly in the wake of systematic attacks on energy infrastructure.

As of the latest updates from Red Elctrica, partial power restoration has been achieved in regions across the north, south, and west of the Iberian Peninsula. However, it could take up to a week for the electrical network to be completely repaired and operational once again.