On April 28, 2025, a widespread power outage struck large areas of Spain and Portugal, including major cities like Madrid and Lisbon. The blackout disrupted public transport systems, halted flights, and caused significant traffic congestion. Utility operators, such as Spain’s Red Eléctrica and Portugal’s REN, are collaborating with European partners to restore power, with estimates indicating a restoration time of six to ten hours. Authorities have not ruled out the possibility of a cyberattack as the cause and are conducting investigations. The outage also briefly affected parts of France, prompting emergency cabinet meetings in both Spain and Portugal.
In Madrid, the power cut led to the suspension of matches at the Madrid Open tennis tournament, with several matches interrupted, including those involving players Grigor Dimitrov and Jacob Fearnley. The outage also caused the evacuation of buildings, stalled metro cars, and left people trapped in elevators. In Lisbon, the metro system was halted, and the airport operated on backup generators. French grid operator RTE reported a brief impact but confirmed that power had been restored.
Additionally, Spanish oil refiner Petronor announced the shutdown of all operational units at its Bilbao refinery due to the blackout, assuring the public that the shutdown was conducted safely with all emergency systems functioning properly.
Authorities continue to assess the situation and work towards restoring normalcy.
