Iberian Peninsula Power Outage (April 28, 2025)

On April 28, 2025, the Iberian Peninsula Power Outage was a rare large-scale power disruption in modern European history, affecting Spain, Portugal, and partially France, directly impacting approximately 60 million people.

At 12:33 local time on April 28, 2025, a sudden collapse occurred in Spain’s national power grid, resulting in the loss of 15 gigawatts of power—equivalent to around 60 percent of the country’s electricity demand—within five seconds. The outage quickly spread to southern Portugal and France.

Metro systems across the Iberian Peninsula came to a complete halt, traffic lights ceased functioning, public transportation ground to a standstill, and ATMs and card payment systems went offline. Life in major cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, and Porto was brought to a total standstill.

Telephone networks across Spain and Portugal collapsed, rendering both mobile and landline services largely unusable. In some areas, communication was possible only through radio broadcasts.

_{Malfunctioning traffic lights in Spain, 28 April 2025 - Anadolu Agency}

Metro systems in major cities including Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, and Porto ceased all operations. Tens of thousands of passengers were stranded at Madrid Atocha and Barcelona Sants train stations. In Madrid, people at bus stops resorted to hitchhiking to reach airports on their own.

Air operations at Spanish and Portuguese airports continued using emergency generators, but numerous flights were canceled at Madrid, Barcelona, and Lisbon airports. At Lisbon’s Humberto Delgado Airport, passengers were forced to wait in dark terminals. Spain’s Air Traffic Authority ENAIRE reported that air traffic control operations continued uninterrupted with the aid of diesel generators.

Spain’s Ministry of the Interior declared a state of emergency in the regions of Madrid, Andalusia, Murcia, Extremadura, La Rioja, Galicia, Castilla-La Mancha, and Valencia, mobilizing emergency response teams. The Madrid Fire Department carried out 174 elevator rescue operations in a single day.

Portugal’s National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority deployed additional security personnel nationwide to meet the surge in demand. Intensive efforts were made to rescue people trapped in elevators. Hospitals, fuel stations, and critical public buildings switched to backup generator systems, while telephone exchanges and internet infrastructure partially failed.

_{A view from Madrid after the power outage, 28 April 2025 - Anadolu Agency}

The power outage affected the entire Spanish mainland, excluding the Balearic and Canary Islands. All 6.5 million households in Portugal were impacted. Brief outages also occurred in southwestern France, particularly in the French Basque Country.

The Spanish Parliament suspended its sessions, and both daytime and nighttime sessions of the Madrid Open Tennis Tournament were canceled. Evacuations were carried out in public buildings and offices, and many businesses were unable to operate.

Emergency services continued operating using generators; hospitals in Spain and Portugal’s National Emergency Medical Institute (INEM) activated their backup power systems. Spain’s Nuclear Safety Council reported that emergency shutdown procedures were triggered in nuclear reactors due to the outage but that safety was maintained.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez stated that all possible causes of the grid collapse were being investigated. He urged the public not to believe misinformation and emphasized that while a cyberattack could not be ruled out, no evidence of such an attack had been found.

Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro clarified that the outage did not originate in Portugal but began in Spain’s grid. Portuguese officials suggested that a rare atmospheric phenomenon may have caused severe imbalances in the European power network.

Spain’s national grid operator Red Eléctrica and Portugal’s REN company assessed that the temporary disconnection between the French section of the European grid and the Iberian Peninsula may have contributed to the collapse. At the time of the event, a loss of 15 gigawatts—equivalent to 60 percent of Spain’s electricity demand—occurred within five seconds. This triggered temporary imbalances in other European power systems.

The April 28, 2025 Iberian Peninsula Power Outage refers to a large-scale blackout that affected Spain, Portugal, and parts of France. The incident caused significant disruptions across transportation, communication, healthcare, and various other sectors.

The blackout began on April 28, 2025, at approximately 12:30 p.m. local time. Major cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, and Valencia in Spain, along with Lisbon and surrounding regions in Portugal, experienced extensive power outages. Bordering regions in France, Andorra, and even areas as far as Belgium were also reported to have been affected.

_{Traffic lights out of service in Spain, April 28, 2025 – Anadolu Agency}

In Spain, operations at Madrid Barajas and Barcelona El Prat Airports were disrupted, metro systems in Madrid and Barcelona came to a standstill, and traffic lights ceased functioning. The Madrid Open tennis tournament was suspended due to the outage. Severe interruptions were reported in internet services and mobile networks. In Lisbon, metro stations were closed, card payment systems failed, long queues formed at ATMs, and rail services were suspended. 

Spain’s national grid operator, Red Eléctrica, confirmed the widespread outage and announced that investigations into the cause were ongoing. Authorities indicated that the restoration of electricity would be a gradual process, with partial recovery already observed in the northern and southern regions. Red Eléctrica also noted that such a large-scale blackout was unprecedented in Spain’s history and estimated that full restoration could take between 6 to 10 hours. 

_{A scene from Madrid following the power outage, April 28, 2025 – Anadolu Agency}

Portugal’s grid operator, E-Redes, attributed the blackout to a problem within the European electricity grid, suggesting that a voltage imbalance might have triggered the event. Portugal’s national energy company, REN, reported that a wildfire on Alaric Mountain in southern France had damaged a high-voltage power line between Perpignan and Narbonne, identifying it as a possible contributing factor. 

The Spanish government convened a crisis committee at the Moncloa Palace to assess the situation. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited Red Eléctrica’s headquarters and held crisis meetings with relevant ministers. The Mayor of Madrid urged residents to stay indoors whenever possible and to only call emergency services for genuine emergencies.

Spain’s Ministry of Health confirmed ongoing coordination with regional authorities and announced that non-urgent medical procedures had been suspended to prioritize essential services. Security forces were deployed across major cities such as Madrid and Barcelona. The Madrid regional government requested the activation of the Level 3 Emergency Plan to ensure public order. 

In Portugal, Humberto Delgado Airport in Lisbon was closed, and TAP Airlines advised passengers not to travel to airports until further notice. Portugal’s Deputy Minister for Regional Development, Manuel Castro Almeida, indicated that the outage might have been caused by a cyberattack potentially affecting Spain, France, and Germany as well.

The exact cause of the blackout has not yet been determined. Spain’s National Institute for Cybersecurity confirmed that the possibility of a cyberattack was under active investigation. Portuguese authorities emphasized that technical failures in the European power grid were also being examined. 

The European Commission stated it was in direct contact with the governments of Spain and Portugal to help identify the cause and that necessary recovery protocols were being implemented. France’s electricity transmission operator, RTE, reported that although some areas had been affected, services had since been restored. 

During the power outage, shopping malls, supermarkets, and restaurants were largely closed, and payment systems shifted to cash. Due to non-operational ATMs, the public faced severe difficulties accessing cash. Long queues formed in major cities such as Lisbon and Madrid, and generators and battery-powered lamps were rapidly depleted in stores.

In Madrid, the capital of Spain, Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida urged citizens not to leave their homes except in emergencies and to avoid overloading emergency hotlines. Additionally, traffic management in some Madrid streets was handled by police using whistles and hand signals.

In Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, metro services began with delays, and many citizens experienced overcrowding at metro stations during morning hours. The Lisbon City Council deployed additional traffic police to clear roads in the city center. A large portion of schools in Spain and Portugal suspended classes on 29 April. Spain’s Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, announced that schools in areas under emergency declaration would remain open but without lessons.

_{Passengers affected by power outages in España, 28 April 2025 - Anadolu Agency}

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez thanked the governments of France and Morocco for their energy support. France provided Spain with a 700-megawatt electricity transfer. Morocco also supplied additional energy to southern regions. The European Commission announced that it was closely monitoring developments related to the incident and supporting coordination efforts across the European power grid. Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko stated that Ukraine offered technical assistance to Spain and Portugal on ensuring the security of the European energy infrastructure.

As of the morning of 29 April 2025, electricity supply in Spain and Portugal had nearly returned to normal. Red Eléctrica and REN reported that over 99 percent of their systems were operating stably, with only limited areas experiencing minor technical repairs.

_{Barselona Metrosu, 29 Nisan 2025 - Anadolu Ajansı}

In Spain, high-speed rail lines connecting Madrid to Barcelona, Madrid to Valencia, Madrid to Málaga, and Madrid to Granada resumed operations; however, it was indicated that medium- and long-distance train services might take several more days to return to full capacity. The schedule for the Madrid Open tennis tournament was also revised, with some sessions canceled.

The governments of Spain and Portugal announced they would launch long-term infrastructure improvement plans to enhance the resilience of their electricity networks to prevent similar crises in the future. The Spanish National Security Council was summoned to an extraordinary meeting on 30 April 2025, chaired by King Felipe VI.