The Spanish government links the power outage to a "multifactorial" cause.

MadridThe origin of the massive power outage that hit the Iberian Peninsula on April 28th was "multifactorial." This was the conclusion of the Spanish government committee that spent nearly two months analyzing the causes of this unprecedented incident, as explained by the Minister for Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen, at a press conference on Tuesday, following the Council of Ministers. In fact, the committee's final report was approved this Tuesday, after fourteen meetings.

The fact that the power outage is linked to more than one factor and, therefore, that there are "multiple causes," in Aagesen's words, allows the Spanish government to avoid placing responsibility either on Red Eléctrica, the operator of the Spanish electricity system, or on the electricity companies, including those that generate electricity. "[The committee's analysis] is not a judgment. It aims to identify the causes and call for reflection among all stakeholders in the electricity system," reiterated the Minister for Ecological Transition, who has left the task of identifying responsibilities in the hands of the courts. The final report will not be released until Tuesday afternoon, but the minister has already indicated that they have not obtained all the information they anticipated and that some information has been "anonymized" for confidentiality reasons.

Aagesen presented the report to the National Security Council on Tuesday morning, and it was then referred to the Council of Ministers for approval. With this step, the committee of experts formed by the Spanish government does not exhaust the three-month period to investigate the causes that left Spain and Portugal without electricity for more than eight hours. In contrast, the independent group of European experts has a six-month period to present a preliminary study with recommendations (the final report will not be made public until September 2026).

Just over a month ago, the Minister for Ecological Transition herself was already drawing some conclusions about the incident. On the one hand, the beginning of the blackout in the provinces of Granada, Badajoz, and Seville has been defined. On the other hand, it has been ruled out that the Spanish electricity system operator, Red Eléctrica, suffered a cyberattack.

However, the mystery surrounding the incident has not been the only one arising. Solving the puzzle of the cause of the blackout has added a battle for transparency, but also the uncertainty about who will assume the anticipated multi-million-dollar claims for the power outages suffered by businesses and families for hours.

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