A massive blackout that brought Spain and Portugal to a standstill has been largely resolved, with electricity restored to most areas. The sudden loss of 15 gigawatts of electricity generation in Spain, equivalent to 60% of national demand, caused widespread disruptions, including grounded flights, halted public transport, and shuttered stores. Authorities are still investigating the cause of the outage, but efforts between national grid operators and local utilities have been instrumental in resolving the crisis
Power has been largely restored across Spain and Portugal today, Tuesday, following the significant blackout that occurred on Monday. Spanish energy provider Red Electrica announced on X that “99.95% of demand has been restored” as they work towards “fully normalizing” the system.
Similarly, Portuguese electricity distributor E-Redes confirmed to Publico that service has been fully restored and normalized in Portugal today.
While power has been widely restored across Spain and Portugal following Monday’s major blackout, some disruptions persist. The Spanish Transport Ministry announced via X that all airports in Spain are now “operational.” However, in Portugal, Lisbon Airport is still experiencing flight cancellations, according to Publico.
Telecommunication services, which were interrupted during the blackout, are also reportedly recovering in both countries.
As both nations work towards a complete return to normalcy, the Portuguese government has convened a new Council of Ministers meeting this Tuesday morning.
Adding to the efforts to address the widespread blackout, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is scheduled to convene a National Security Council meeting today. This meeting will be chaired by Spanish King Felipe VI, according to reports from El Pais.
The extensive power outage, which occurred around midday on Monday, impacted Portugal, Spain, and Andorra. Authorities are still actively investigating the precise causes of the disruption, which also affected parts of France.
During a late Monday media briefing, Spanish Premier Sanchez provided details about the unprecedented nature of the blackout. “At 12:33 this morning, 15 gigawatts of generation were suddenly lost from the system—in just five seconds. This is something that has never occurred before,” he stated.
Emphasizing the ongoing investigation into the cause, Sanchez noted that “no hypothesis or possibility is being ruled out” as authorities analyze the situation.
Echoing this sentiment, Spanish energy provider Red Electrica described the outage as “exceptional and totally extraordinary.”
As investigations into the widespread blackout continue, a clearer picture of its potential origin is emerging. Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro stated on Monday night that the issue did not originate within the Portuguese grid, suggesting Spain as the point of failure, according to Publico.
“It is related to an abrupt increase in voltage in the Spanish electricity grid, the origin of which we are unable to explain,” Montenegro explained. “We know that it was the increase in this voltage that triggered the safety mechanisms that led to this blackout. We will calmly assess with the Spanish authorities what happened and try to design better response instruments.”
Portugal’s grid operator REN corroborated this account, emphasizing that the blackout stemmed from a “fault in the Spanish electricity grid” linked to a “rare atmospheric phenomenon.” REN officials further elaborated, stating that “extreme temperature variations in Spain contributed to the outage.”
Despite the unusual nature of the event, both Spanish and Portuguese premiers, along with European Council President Antonio Costa, have indicated that a cyberattack is not currently suspected, underlining that there were “no indications” of such malicious activity.
The Fount 
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