Spain, Portugal suffer nationwide blackout

Spain and Portugal were plunged into darkness on Monday after a massive power outage swept across both countries, leaving millions without electricity.

Authorities in Portugal confirmed to local media that the blackout was nationwide, while similar reports emerged from across Spain. The disruption has been attributed to issues with the European electric grid, though investigations are still ongoing.

Madrid’s Barajas International Airport was among the major sites affected, suffering a complete power loss. Telecommunications have also been severely disrupted, with many residents reporting that mobile networks are down across both countries. Other airports throughout the region have experienced major service interruptions as well.

Public transportation has been thrown into chaos. According to Euronews, metro passengers in both Lisbon and Madrid have been stranded underground, as trains came to a halt in tunnels between stations. Hospitals have not been spared either — Madrid's La Paz Hospital was among the facilities impacted by the outage.

In response to the escalating situation, the Spanish government convened an emergency meeting at the Moncloa Palace to monitor developments.

Authorities have urged the public to refrain from calling 112 except in real emergencies to prevent overwhelming emergency lines.

The blackout has extended beyond Spain and Portugal, with reports of outages coming from neighboring Andorra and areas of southern France near the Spanish border. There are even early indications that parts of Belgium may have been affected.

While the exact cause remains unclear, Spain’s two major power companies, Endesa and Iberdrola, are currently investigating the incident.

Domestic reports suggest that broader problems within the European electric grid may have impacted the Iberian Peninsula’s power systems. Additionally, Portugal’s national electric company REN pointed to a separate event that could be linked: a fire on France’s Alaric Mountain, which reportedly damaged a high-voltage transmission line between Perpignan and Narbonne.