A major power outage hit Spain and Portugal on Monday, shutting down trains, airports and other critical infrastructure and causing disruptions across the two countries. Energy authorities said the outage occurred following a disruption in the European grid.
It was not immediately clear what caused the outage. António Leitão Amaro, the minister of state for the presidency in Portugal, said on national radio that there is no evidence of a cyberattack.
E-Redes, the national energy supplier of Portugal, said “the interruption was due to a problem in the European electricity grid.”
Power authorities said they were working quickly to restore service while it was still daylight.
“Voltage has been recovered in substations in several areas of the north, south and west of the peninsula,” Spain’s national power company, Red Eléctricia, said on X about 3:30 p.m. local time. Its representatives did not respond to questions about the scope of the outage or any potential cause.
The outage also briefly affected France. RTE, the French electrical grid operator, said in a statement that some households in the country’s Basque region had briefly lost electricity, but that “all power has since been restored.”
The effects of the disruption were felt by millions of people across the Iberian Peninsula, as authorities activated emergency plans. Top Spanish officials convened a meeting of the National Security Council on Monday.
Long lines started to form outside of ATMs. There were widespread problems connecting to the internet and to phone networks across Spain and Portugal.
“Due to the power outage, we ask that you avoid driving as much as possible,” the Spanish traffic authority wrote in a post on X. “The power outage prevents traffic lights and road signs from working.”
Major institutions went into crisis-management mode: Hospitals in Spain were forced to run on generators. Portuguese banks and schools closed. Matches for the Madrid Open tennis tournament were suspended, the ATP Tour said.
Transit operators tried to manage expectations and warn people about disruptions.
Renfe, Spain’s national rail company, wrote in a post on X that “at 12:30 p.m., the entire national electricity grid was cut off,” adding that trains had stopped operating at all stations. Subways in several cities, including Valencia and Madrid, were also disrupted.
EasyJet, the airline, told passengers that “Spanish airports are currently experiencing ongoing power outages affecting multiple essentials systems and airport infrastructure.” The airline said it expected delays and described the disruptions as “extraordinary and outside of our control.”
Tens of millions of people across the region tried to deal with the disruptions while they still had daylight to spare.
In Lisbon, Portugal’s capital, people started racing to grocery stores to fill up on water and dried goods. Many were out of luck: Some major grocery stores were closed Monday afternoon. Smaller groceries struggled to refill shelves that were quickly emptying.
In Peniche, a small coastal city about 50 miles north of Lisbon, only one grocery store was still open on Wednesday afternoon. Dozens of people waited in front of each cashier.
Elsewhere in the city, André Lima, 33, waited at an A.T.M., along with about 50 other people. Mr. Lima, who works at a health-care complex for seniors, said he worried about the oxygen supply for some residents.
“There are people whose life depends on power supply,” he said.
In Murcia, a city in southeastern Spain, crosswalk signs and traffic lights went dark, though some still drove cars carefully through the streets. Some restaurants stopped serving food and churches closed their doors.
Teresa Garcia, 92, sat in a wheelchair outside her house around lunchtime. She was waiting for the power to return so the elevator could take her back up to her apartment, she said.
At the Capilla del Apóstol Santiago, a small group of parishioners had gathered in the dark church, and altar candles were lit by people praying for those affected by the blackout, including “all those trapped in elevators.”
But the midday sunlight still shone brightly. For a time, indoor flamenco classes continued, as people practiced in the light streaming in from the windows.
Catherine Porter and Azam Ahmed contributed reporting.
Amelia Nierenberg is a breaking news reporter for The Times in London, covering international news.
Jonathan Wolfe is a Times reporter based in London, covering breaking news.
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