![The Vandellós II nuclear power plant.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 16 9"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, has taken her personal war against the Spanish government to the limit over the blackout. The solution she had found was to become the only community with a Level 3 emergency declaration and, therefore, under the supervision of the Ministry of the Interior. Finally, Ayuso's government assumed that all services could be provided normally and requested Level 2, as Extremadura had previously done. They were the last two to maintain Level 3. However, Ayuso initially resisted, arguing that there was no guarantee that there wouldn't be another blackout like Monday's if the Spanish government didn't report on the cause. "It's incomprehensible that someone asking for help because they don't have the capacity to manage the emergency now doesn't want to confirm whether they are in a position to do so," criticized the Spanish government delegate in Madrid, Francisco Martín, before Ayuso changed his mind.
The CNI will go to the electricity company facilities to check that they were not attacked.
The Spanish government lowers its tone with companies, and the president of Red Eléctrica rules out resigning.
MadridAfter 48 hours of the blackout and with normality restored, the Spanish government is lowering the decibels, but maintaining its urgent request to companies to send all the data from the peninsular zero on Monday. Pedro Sánchez surprised everyone on Tuesday when he insisted that the "pertinent responsibilities" would be held from the electricity system operators, despite not yet knowing the causes, with a much harsher tone than that displayed this Wednesday by the Third Vice President, Sara Aagesen, who was more conciliatory. At the press conference, he praised the work of the president of Red Eléctrica, Beatriz Corredor—she has assured that she will not resign—and did not consider the electricity companies hindering their cooperation. However, he did advance that one of the first actions of the committee investigating the blackout, which includes the CNI (National Institute of Statistics and Census), will be to visit the companies' facilities to verify that they have not been attacked. In other words, all hypotheses remain open.
Sources from the companies consulted by ARA already indicated on Tuesday, after meeting with the Spanish president at the Moncloa Palace, that they will provide all requested information. "They have shown a willingness," Aagesen assured after the cabinet meeting on Wednesday. The Spanish government asked the companies to send it the computer data from the blackout this afternoon, coinciding with the constitution of the investigation committee that will try to clarify what happened. It will be made up of bodies from various ministries, such as the Department of National Security, the National National Council of Ministers (CNI), the Defense Staff, the National Center for the Protection of Critical Infrastructures, the Nuclear Safety Council, and the National Cybersecurity Institute. "The Interior, Defense, and Digital Transformation teams will verify its proper functioning and that there have been no attacks on the operators, who are essential to ensuring supply," explained the Minister of Ecological Transition. Sánchez already indicated on Tuesday that the National Cryptologic Center, an intelligence agency, would conduct its own analysis of possible cyberattacks.
Corredor defends himself
After Monday's massive blackoutThe spotlight is on the Spanish electricity system operator, Red Eléctrica, and this morning its president expressed her opinion for the first time. [I will resign.] "I am correctly assuming responsibility and it is not my style to not show my face and not respond," Corredor said in an interview on Cadena SER. Aagesen reciprocated: "From the beginning, the work of the president and her technicians has been extraordinary," he assured, and praised the rapid recovery.
The day after Sánchez distanced himself from the operator, the Moncloa does not question Corredor's continuity for the moment, although sources from the Moncloa point out that, despite being the majority shareholder of Red Eléctrica, it is not up to the Spanish government to ratify or censure his actions. the data of the blackout and that they were waiting for the companies that manage the small control centers to do the same. collapse the network. So far, the Ministry of Ecological Transition has confirmed two disconnections "compatible with a loss of generation," but does not have sufficient data to determine their origin.
While waiting to unravel the scheme, the Spanish government is working with all operators to analyze it and this Wednesday eased tensions with Red Eléctrica. Both parties have even defended renewable energy. Now that photovoltaics is in the spotlight for their possible responsibility in the blackout. Corredor sought to disassociate the impact from the penetration of these energies into the Spanish electricity system: "They operate stably and have a system that allows them to work with a conventional [electricity] generation system, without any safety issues." The president of the electricity operator reaffirmed that Spain has one of the best electricity systems in Europe.
Iberdrola denies responsibility.
Meanwhile, Iberdrola chairman Ignacio Sánchez Galán indicated this Wednesday that the company he presides over is not responsible for the causes of the massive blackout. Iberdrola, the state's leading electricity company, announced its first-quarter results (earning €2.004 billion), and during the presentation, in front of analysts, the chairman pointed the finger directly at Red Eléctrica: "The [system] operator is the one who must clarify what was there before and what is happening, that's what I can say, that's what I can say. The system operator's willingness to start working [generating electricity] when we are given the instruction," he asserted.
