Brussels 29.04.2025 A sudden power blackout left millions of people in Spain, Portugal and parts of France without electricity on Monday, 29 April, leading to chaotic scenes in city traffic, and wider disruptions.
DAVE WALSH: There are about 6 million people in Spain, Portugal, and France without power because they’ve embraced solar and wind electricity generation. It doesn’t work at night, or when it’s cloudy, or when there’s no wind. Also, all the solar panels and batteries are coming… pic.twitter.com/HpQBJnRMGn
— Bannon’s WarRoom (@Bannons_WarRoom) April 28, 2025
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A problem with the power connection between France and Spain was a contributing factor to the outage, the head of a trade body that represents Europe’s power industry said.
Redes Energéticas Nacionais (REN), the company responsible for the supply of electricity and gas in Portugal, confirmed that “a massive power outage occurred across the Iberian Peninsula and parts of French territory,” and that plans to restore service have been activated.
A day of widespread disruption saw trains cancelled and evacuated in some regions, and traffic lights stop working as delays mounted at airports.
As of Monday evening, 11 trains remained stranded, Spanish Transport Minister Oscar Puente said.
With shops, homes and restaurants plunged into darkness – and some people stuck in lifts – Spain’s electricity network said by mid-afternoon that restoring power could take several hours.
By Monday night, 50% of power had been restored across Spain, according to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. While Portuguese energy provider REN said electricity had been restored to 750,000 customers.
However a state of emergency remained in place, with regions able to request the special status.
At present the situation is returning back to normal. The reason for the blackout is under the investigation.
En medio del apagón masivo en España, Francia y Portugal, el presidente Pedro Sánchez afirma que la proridad es volver a la "normalidad", lo que podría tardar una semana. Crecen los rumores de un cyberataque.https://t.co/0A1fTBCoVm
— Urgente24.com (@U24noticias) April 29, 2025
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Amid the massive power outage in Spain, France, and Portugal, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez says the priority is to return to “normalcy,” which could take a week. However the rumors of a massive cyberattack are growing.
Congratulations to Portugal and Spain for achieving Net Zero today –
Zero emissions, Zero electricity, Zero explanations! ⚡🌎#NetZero #Blackout pic.twitter.com/JP6k5Q4jcl— Paul Hennessy (@PPHennessy) April 28, 2025
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