Electricity was restored to most of Spain and Portugal by early Tuesday following a massive blackout, but authorities are still investigating the cause of one of Europe’s largest power outages.
In Spain, schools, offices, and public transport resumed operations, traffic eased, and most hospitals regained power—though some still relied on generators. Spain’s grid operator Red Electrica (REDE.MC) confirmed near-full electricity supply by Tuesday morning, while Portugal’s REN had all 89 substations operational by Monday night, as reported by news agencies.
The outage, which began around midday Monday, resulted from a sudden loss of 15 gigawatts of electricity—about 60% of Spain’s national demand—within just five seconds, according to Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. The grid instability severed the interconnection with France through the Pyrenees, leading to the collapse of Spain’s power system, said Red Electrica’s operations chief Eduardo Prieto. Parts of France experienced brief power cuts.
The blackout has sparked debate over the reliability of renewable energy sources, given Spain’s high dependence on solar and wind power. Energy analyst John Kemp noted that the region’s heavy renewable penetration makes this a key case study on how such energy sources affect grid reliability and recovery. He warned that uncovering the chain of failures may take months.
In Portugal, hospitals were fully operational, Lisbon’s airport experienced residual delays, the metro system was restarting, and trains were running. Meanwhile, French Industry Minister Marc Ferracci stated that France had been better prepared and suffered only minimal impact.
To mitigate the disruption, Madrid authorities provided free bus services, and the metro and trains resumed with delays. Many train travelers were stranded overnight, some sleeping at stations or at the Movistar Arena.
A state of emergency was declared in several Spanish regions, with 30,000 police deployed. At Madrid’s Atocha station, police and Red Cross teams distributed blankets and water. In Barcelona, restaurant and bar owners on Tuesday assessed losses due to food spoilage from powerless refrigerators and freezers.
