Spain: Massive Power Outage

Passengers wait outside Atocha train station during a nationwide power outage in Madrid, Monday, April 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

BY C STONE | STONE NEWS NETWORK ||| SPAIN and PORTUGAL

Millions in Spain and Portugal were without power today, and the blackout caused mayhem for traffic. Thousands were stranded on trains, at airports, and, in cars. With no phone or internet, only people with satellite phones could communicate.

Even after 11 hours, experts in the government were still trying to figure out how this h appened.

From AP:

“We have never had a complete collapse of the system,” Sánchez said, before detailing that at 12:33 p.m. on Monday Spain’s power grid lost 15 gigawatts, the equivalent of 60% of its national demand, in a matter of five seconds.

A medical staffer relocates a patient during a nationwide power outage in Pamplona, northern Spain, Monday, April 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)

Spanish power distributor Red Eléctrica’s head of operations Eduardo Prieto said the event was “exceptional and extraordinary.”

Spain had recovered nearly 50% of its power by 11 p.m., and the prime minister pledged that the entire country of 48 million would have lights back on by the end of Tuesday.

By 11PM, about 50% of Spain had it's power back on, and the Prime Minister vowed that all would have power by the end of day Tuesday.

This is the 2nd serious European power outage in less than 6 weeks, after a March 20 fire shutdown Heathrow Airport in the United Kingdom.

One could imagine the breakdown. Suddenly, no power at mid-day. Traffic lights go black. Chaos ensues. Emergency service and rail workers helped evacuate 35,000 people from 100 trains stopped on tracks. At 11PM, there was still 11 trains that needed to be evacuated.

“I’ve been here for almost three hours, trying to get someone to take me to the airport because my family arrived today and I can’t talk to them,” Jessica Fernández told The Associated Press. “This is terrifying.”

The subway systems shut down.

“I don’t know how I am going to get home,” Barcelona resident Ivette Corona said as she watched a large group of people fail to get on a bus that briefly stopped to squeeze in a couple of passengers.

More here.