The electrical system is down throughout Spain and Portugal

Barcelona / MadridThe electricity supply has suffered a general outage affecting at least the entire Iberian Peninsula. The outage affects electricity, but also mobile and landline telephone services. The blackout occurred at 12:40 p.m. this Monday, and problems have been reported from the outset in Catalonia, the rest of Spain, and also in Portugal. In fact, several witnesses told ARA that the outage also affects towns such as Viseu, Guarda, and Porto.

In a press conference this afternoon, Red Eléctrica, the company that suffered the outage, confirmed that it will take another six to ten hours to fully restore service.

Confusion took over people when the outage occurred. The distribution companies acknowledged from the outset that there was a problem, but have not yet detailed the reasons for the outage. Endesa sources indicate that the power outage is being cut off by Red Eléctrica and that, in Catalonia, at least three regions are slowly and partially recovering power to their substations: Osona, Ripollès, and Vallès Oriental.

This restoration is being carried out progressively as Endesa receives authorization from the company to connect to the French stations. Red Eléctrica is the system operator—owned by the state—that transports high-voltage electricity to the stations and transformer substations, from where the distribution companies, in Catalonia primarily Endesa, transport the medium- and low-voltage electricity to the end customer. Providing electricity to essential services such as hospitals is the priority right now.

What happened?

There is still no confirmed information regarding the cause of this unprecedented blackout. According to the Portuguese government, one hypothesis being considered is a cyberattack. "I know it affects different countries in Europe and I think Morocco as well. It's something on a large scale that, due to its scale, is compatible with a cyberattack," said Portuguese Deputy Minister for Territorial Concessions, Manuel Castro Almeida, in a statement to RTP. Asked again about the possibility of a cyberattack, he replied that "that is a possibility, although it is not confirmed."

According to Euronews, however, the cause could have been a fire in southwestern France, on Mount Alaric, which damaged a high-voltage line between Perpignan and eastern Narbonne, according to what Portugal's national electricity company, REN, told this outlet.

People trapped on the subway, on trains, and in elevators

When the power went out, the streets became chaotic. Many traffic lights stopped working (but not all, as this newspaper has been able to verify), most businesses also lost power, and the Catalan capital's metro service was also out of service.

Rail service officials tell this newspaper that trains have also stopped, with the passengers inside. The entire service is paralyzed. The Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) has already given the order to deploy all possible resources to evacuate the trapped people. The priority is to help people get off metro trains and Renfe trains, and people trapped in tunnels and elevators.

Civil Protection has activated the Procicat plan's pre-alert plan for the power outage. Emergency services are operating with generators and, therefore, are not at risk right now, nor are hospitals.

The website of Red Eléctrica Española, the state-owned company that distributes electricity to private companies, shows the moment the general blackout occurred in this graph. As can be seen, the yellow line for actual consumption plummets.

[We are working to expand this information]