We’re closing this blog now as power begins to return to Spain and Portugal following an unprecedented regional blackout that remains unexplained. Here’s a summary of the key developments:
Nearly half of Spain’s national electricity supply had been restored before the end of the day, including to the Basque country and Barcelona areas in the early afternoon, and to parts of capital Madrid on Monday night. About 61% of electricity had been restored by late Monday, according to the national grid operator.
In Portugal power was also gradually returning including to the capital Lisbon. Grid operator REN said 85 out of 89 power substations were back online.
The cause of the blackout remains unclear. Portuguese prime minister Luis Montenegro suggested the issue originated in Spain and the Portuguese operator blamed it on extreme temperature variations. Spain’s grid operator REE blamed a connection failure with France for triggering a knock-on effect.
Montenegro said there was “no indication” a cyberattack had caused the blackout, which began around 1033 GMT. Nonetheless, rumours circulated of possible sabotage. Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez said nothing had been ruled out and that he had spoken to Nato secretary general Mark Rutte.
Sánchez said that the country had suffered a loss of 15GW of electricity generation in five seconds, equivalent to 60% of national demand. “This is something that has never happened before,” he said.
Spain’s interior ministry declared a national emergency and deployed 30,000 police across the country to keep order. Officials urged people to stay at home and many Spaniards took a half day off.
The two countries were left without trains, metros, traffic lights, ATMs, phone connections and internet access. Hospitals postponed routine operations but used generators to attend to critical cases, and while electronic banking was able to function on backup systems, most ATM screens were blank.
France and Morocco sent additional electricity to Spain. Sánchez said the shortfall would also be eased using gas and hydroelectric power.
If you’re just joining us, here’s our latest wrap of the main developments:
