Major power outage grinds Spain and Portugal to a halt

Spain and Portugal were hit by a major power outage on Monday that paralysed transport and telecommunications systems, causing widespread disruption.

Eduardo Prieto, services director and Spanish utility Red Eléctrica, described the blackout as “exceptional and totally extraordinary”. Parts of France were also reportedly affected.

The cause of the blackout was not yet clear on Monday evening, though Portugal’s prime minister, Luis Montenegro, said there was “no indication” a cyberattack was to blame, as was being widely speculated.

Even so, as authorities in Spain and Portugal scrambled to restore power, they said nothing had been ruled out.

In a live statement from La Moncloa just after 6pm, Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sanchez said the cause of the outage was still under investigation, adding: “It’s best not to speculate.”

Spain’s rail network ground to a halt and there was disruption at airports as authorities urged people to avoid all but essential travel, with key transport safety infrastructure including traffic lights down in many areas.

The outage also affected mobile networks, with shops and supermarkets unable to take card payments amid panic buying as many people stocked up on essentials fearing prolonged disruption.

Gibraltar, which has its own power network, suffered no disruption, though the Gibraltar Government urged Gibraltarians who had travelled across the border for the bank holiday to “exercise extreme caution” and look to official sources for information and updates.

“While the cause of the widespread power outage remains unknown, the public will be aware that Gibraltar is not connected to the European grid,” a spokesperson for No.6 Convent Place said.

“Therefore, the electricity generation and distribution network in Gibraltar is currently operating normally.”

“The border continues to flow normally for incoming and outgoing traffic.”

“Pedestrians entering Gibraltar are being checked manually in the interim whilst the eGates on the Spanish side are out of service due to the power outage.”

No.6 Convent Place said Chief Minister Fabian Picardo had been in touch with his counterparts in Spain and had offered assistance to the Mayor of La Linea, the President of the Mancommunidad and the President of the Junta de Andalucia.

Gibraltar offered to take patients into the GHA's intensive care unit if needed and to provide such other assistance as may be required and could be provided, in particular for the elderly and other vulnerable groups.

However intensive care units in the Campo remained resilient through the blackout thanks to generator power.

"Gibraltar remains on standby to assist as the daylight hours come to an end,” Mr Picardo said.

“This is a time for human solidarity and I have no doubt that many fellow Gibraltarians will be reaching out to friends, family and colleagues in Spain."