Parts of Spain, Portugal, and southern France were struck by a massive power outage on Monday, casting millions into darkness. As efforts to restore electricity continued into the evening, significant progress was noted, though many areas remained affected.

The blackout, which started around midday local time, disrupted daily life for tens of millions of people throughout the Iberian Peninsula. Essential services were impacted, with subways halted, phone services disrupted, and traffic lights rendered inoperative. However, critical facilities such as hospitals, nuclear power plants, and prisons were able to maintain operations thanks to backup power systems.

During a press conference held on Monday evening, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Snchez remarked that this type of extensive blackout had never been witnessed in Spain before. He explained that within mere seconds, the country lost a staggering 60% of its electricity demand. As of this report, the precise cause of the outage remains an enigma, and authorities have not dismissed any potential explanations.

Earlier on the same day, Antnio Costa, the president of the European Council and former Prime Minister of Portugal, took to social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, to indicate that there was no current evidence to suggest that the blackout was the result of a cyber attack.

By Monday evening, Snchez reported that nearly half of Spain's electricity supply had been restored. He noted improvements were evident across almost all regions of the country, expressing gratitude for the assistance received from neighboring countries such as France and Morocco in the recovery efforts. Major urban areas, including the capital city of Madrid and the coastal region of Murcia, along with Cataloniathe home of Barcelonawere among the regions where power had been successfully reinstated.

Despite this progress, Snchez cautioned that it was still uncertain how long it would take to restore full electricity service across Spain.

The situation in Portugal was also evolving, with the national grid operator REN announcing that approximately 750,000 customers had their power restored by Monday night. However, as of that time, electricity had not yet been fully restored in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, although REN projected that service would resume shortly.

This unprecedented blackout led to significant disruptions in travel and transportation. Across Spain, public transport systems, including subways and rail services, faced immediate suspension. Transport Minister scar Puente reported on X that efforts were underway to rescue passengers stranded on 116 different trains.

Air travel was similarly affected, with numerous flight delays and cancellations reported at major airports in Lisbon, Madrid, and Barcelona. However, the airport management company Aena stated that most airports managed to stay operational throughout the blackout due to the implementation of backup electrical systems.

As recovery efforts continue, the focus remains on restoring normalcy and uncovering the reasons behind this significant disruption.