Electricity supply has been restored to more than 99% of mainland Spain, according to the Spanish grid operator REE, after hours of an unexplained power outage that caused chaos across the Iberian peninsula. The network in Portugal has also now been stabilised.
In Madrid, the return of power prompted applause and cheers from residents in the evening, celebrating the end of a long day without electricity, as well as without internet and mobile phone services.
In Portugal, the national grid operator reported that approximately 6.2 million households had power restored by midnight, out of a total of 6.5 million.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez refrained from speculating on the cause of the blackout. He asserted during a press conference that no hypothesis is being "ruled out." Nonetheless, he dismissed the idea that the power outage was caused by the lack of nuclear energy.
Sánchez further described the power cut as an unprecedented "collapse" of the Spanish grid, noting that "15 gigawatts of electricity were suddenly lost in just five seconds."
Portuguese network 'perfectly stabilised'
Portugal's electricity network is "perfectly stabilised" on Tuesday morning, according to its operator REN. "All the substations in the national transmission network have been restored," a REN spokesperson told AFP.
E-Redes, responsible for distributing electricity to end users, announced it has fully restored its network.
Aside from a few isolated incidents typical of a normal day, all households now have access to electricity again, explained an E-Redes spokesperson to AFP.
The government emphasised that all 6.4 million customers are now supplied, stating that "trains are operating and airports are fully functional," and fuel supply has "normalised."
Healthcare, security, and civil protection services are also stabilised, noted the minority centre-right government, which plans to hold an extraordinary cabinet meeting later this morning, just under three weeks before the anticipated legislative elections on 18 May.
A police officer oversees a tram being towed at downtown Lisbon after the lights were restored following a massive power cut affecting the entire Iberian peninsula and the south of France, in Lisbon on 28 April 2025. Credit: Patricia De Melo Moreira / AFP / Belga
In Lisbon, life is returning to normal, with schools preparing to welcome students, according to the Ministry of Education.
Rail services resumed on Tuesday morning after a strike caused the cancellation of all services scheduled for the previous day.
The Lisbon metro stations remained closed as of 08:00 local time (09:00 in Belgium) but were expected to gradually reopen throughout the morning.
