Widespread power outages were reported Monday in parts of Spain, Portugal and France, affecting critical infrastructure like airports and causing transportation disruptions.
“The interruption was due to a problem in the European electricity grid,” E-Redes, the national energy supplier of Portugal, said in a statement. In addition to Portugal, it said, “The blackout also affected regions of Spain and France, due to faults in very high voltage lines.”
E-Redes said that the outage was widespread across Spain, with outages in Catalonia, Andalusia, Aragon, Navarre, the Basque Country, Castile and León, Extremadura and Murcia.
In France, the Portuguese energy supplier said, “the Basque Coast and the Burgundy region also experienced power cuts.”
The cause of the outages was not immediately clear. But the effects of the disruption were felt in cities across the region and affected millions of people across the Iberian Peninsula.
Renfe, the national rail company in Spain, 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.
In southeastern Spain, Valencia’s local train service said that traffic had been disrupted throughout its entire network. “The extent and duration of the outage are unknown,” the service said in a post on X.
About an hour after the outage, Spain’s national power company, Red Eléctricia, said in a post on X that it had restored some power in the north and south of the peninsula.
In Murcia, a city in southeastern Spain, crosswalk signs and traffic lights were dark, prompting some cars to drive carefully through the streets.
Some restaurants stopped serving food and churches closed their doors. People gathered in the streets, looking on their phones to try to figure out what had happened.
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.
In the Spanish capital, matches for the Madrid Open tennis tournament were suspended, the ATP Tour said.
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 disruption as “extraordinary and outside of our control.”
But although the electricity was out, the midday sunlight shone brightly in Murcia. Indoor flamenco classes continued, as people practiced in the light streaming in from the windows.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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