More than half of Spain’s power is restored, the country’s REE electricity operator said late Monday.
Spain has declared a state of emergency after a mass power blackout paralysed most of the Iberian Peninsula.
The unprecedented outages across Spain, Portugal and parts of southern France affected the daily lives of millions, grounding flights, halting trains and leaving whole cities without electricity or telecommunications.
Spain’s interior ministry said the emergency status will be applied in the regions that request it. So far, Madrid, Andalusia and Extremadura have asked for the central government to take over public order and other functions.
Pedro Sanchez, Spain’s prime minister, said the cause of the blackout was still unknown and called on citizens to avoid travel, use mobile phones sparingly and “to act with responsibility and civility”.
The president of Madrid’s regional government had earlier requested that the army be deployed to the region to maintain order, but the request has so far not been answered.
Mr Sanchez promised to restore power nationwide “soon” with help from Morocco and France.
In Portugal, Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said that power would be fully restored later tonight. He said all the state services remained operating in the country despite the difficulties.
Portuguese grid operator REN said one possible cause for the blackout may be a “very large oscillation in the electrical voltages” that started in Spain’s grid and spread to Portugal’s system.
Train stations across Spain will open overnight to stranded passengers, Oscar Puente, the country’s transport minister, said.
At least 15 stations, including in Madrid, Seville and Malaga, will accommodate people who need to take a train and have nowhere else to go, Mr Puente said.
“The goal is to make it easier for people who need to take a train and have no other option to stay overnight,” he said in a post on X.
The UME, a branch of the Spanish military which provides disaster relief, has provided blankets to people staying in Atocha station, which in southeast Madrid, Mr Puente said.
Passengers on three trains are still waiting to be rescued, the president of Renfe, Spain’s state railway company said.
Alvaro F Heredia said 114 rescues of trains have been completed today, involving more than 35,000 people.
“The first priority has been to rescue and evacuate all trains carrying passengers,” Mr Heredia said.
“Three trains remain to be rescued in collaboration with state security forces. Trains are now being recovered, the tracks are being cleared and the service is being organised.”
Renfe said in a post on X that train service is gradually being restored and that all passengers affected by the “exceptional situation” are guaranteed travel to their final destination.
Pedro Sanchez, Spain’s prime minister, was pictured meeting with the bosses of REE, the country’s electricity operator, as power is gradually restored from a nationwide blackout.
Datos actualizados a las 23:15h. desde el CECOEL de @RedElectricaREE , donde está reunida VP Sara Aagesen acompañando al presidente @sanchezcastejon
El 53,1% de demanda energética está atendida (13.000 MW).
Restablecidas 494 subestaciones de 680 (73%). pic.twitter.com/vQJzxHGSzZ
Pedro Sanchez, the prime minister of Spain, said the government would work “all night long” to restore power to the nation.
In an address to citizens, Mr Sanchez said “all state resources are being mobilised to restore normal supply as quickly as possible”.
He added: “We’ll be working flat out, all night long. With professionalism and commitment. As Spain always does in these situations.”
More than 60 per cent of power has been restored, Spain’s electricity operator says, as recovery efforts continue into the night.
As of midnight local time, 61.35 per cent of the demand “has now been recovered”, REE said, and 78 per cent of substations are “energised”.
Lisbon’s airport has now reopened to passengers, Portugal’s Lusa news agency reported.
However, the airport’s management company ANA is recommending that people contact their airlines for information about their flights before going there.
The airport was in chaos earlier today, with mass disruption to flights and drivers forced to abandon their cars to walk to the building. Police were deployed to control entrances to the airport, where hundreds of people were stranded with baggage in tow.
One Spanish man said today’s power outage was “nothing” compared to the floods which battered the country last year.
Manuel Algaba, 54, who lives in the Valencian municipality of Paiporta, told the Spanish daily El Pais that the blackout was “nothing compared to what we had to live through”.
Power was restored at around 8:30pm local time to most of Paiporta, which was among the towns hardest hit by the floods and saw dozens of people lose their lives, El Pais reported.
“There’s water and no mud in the streets,” Mr Algaba added.
Another resident, Miquel Lopez, said: “People are prepared for this. They still keep candles, canned goods and even battery-powered radios at home.”
Over half of Spain’s power has been restored, Spain’s electricity operator says.
As of 11:00pm local time, 51 per cent of the demand “has now been recovered”, REE said, and 70 per cent of substations are “energised”.
Recovery is gradually expanding as the country races to get back in operation.
Around half of Spain’s power has been restored, Spain’s electricity operator said.
48.2 per cent of demand has been recovered and 66 per cent of the grid’s substations are running as of 10:30pm local time.
Portugal’s Prime Minister Luis Montenegro says that power in the country will be fully restored in the coming hours.
He said all the state services remained operating in the country despite all the difficulties
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