STORY: Spain and Portugal were hit by a widespread power outage on Monday (April 28, 2025) that paralyzed public transport, caused large traffic jams and delayed trains and flights.
Utility operators sought to restore the grid with the cause yet to be confirmed.
However Portugal’s grid operator said a rare atmospheric phenomenon in Spain due to extreme temperature variations in the country’s interior caused the power outages.
In parts of Portugal and Spain, traffic lights stopped working, causing gridlock.
Transport networks were halted and people were trapped in the metro and in elevators.
In Madrid, hundreds stood in the streets outside office buildings with a heavy police presence around some important buildings.
The capital’s mayor urged residents to minimize all travel and stay at their current locations if possible.
Airports in both Spain and Portugal reported delays.
The Spanish and Portuguese governments met to discuss the outage and a crisis committee was set up in Spain, sources familiar with the situation said.
Power outages on this scale are rare in Europe.
In 2003 a problem with a hydroelectric power line between Italy and Switzerland caused a major outage across the whole Italian peninsula for 12 hours.
