Power cuts are typically caused by major storms or extreme weather, but today, Spain, Portugal and some parts of France experienced a widespread power outage, causing huge disruption.
It’s obviously pretty worrying if you’re currently on holiday or have a trip planned soon, so we’ve rounded up everything we know about what’s going on so far, as well as all the resources you might find useful to stay up to date.
Which regions have been affected by the power cuts?
Spain and Portugal are the most impacted by the power cut, with ‘large areas’ currently experiencing outages. That includes the cities of Madrid, Lisbon, Barcelona, Porto, Valencia, Seville and Bilbao.
Andorra and parts of France were also briefly affected, however French grid operator RTE has said the network is now operating like normal.
The Balearic and Canary Islands are unaffected right now.
What has caused the power cut?
We don’t yet know the cause – Portugal’s grid operator E-Redes said the outage is due to a ‘problem with the European electricity system’.
According to the BBC, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s office has said ‘The government is working to identify the origin of this incident and dedicating all possible resources to resolve it as quickly as possible.’
Eduardo Prieto, CEO of Red Electrica, Spain’s national electricity grid, has said that getting the power back on could take ‘between six and 10 hours,’ and it’s working with regional energy companies to do so.
What has been the impact so far?
As you might expect, the situation in both Spain and Portugal is chaotic right now. Shops, restaurants, other businesses and homes across both countries have been ‘plunged into darkness’, with reports of people now ‘panic buying’ water due to supply being affected by the lack of power to water pumps.
In Portugal, traffic lights are also down and the metro networks in Lisbon and Porto are both currently closed. Cash points are experiencing long queues, as there is no way to pay electronically.
In Spain, the internet has been affected and mobile networks are reportedly down right now. Tunnels for some highways are closed due to no lights, and the Madrid metro has closed.
The mayor of Madrid José Luis Martínez-Almeida has said the following: ‘I ask all residents of Madrid to keep their movements to an absolute minimum and, if at all possible, to remain where they are. We want to keep all roads clear.’
He has also asked residents to only contact the emergency services if it’s ‘truly urgent’. Currently, an ‘extraordinary’ meeting of Spain’s national security council is taking place, according to the PM’s press office’s social media.
Have flights been affected?
Yes. According to Sky News, Lisbon Airport lost power but that has now come back. Airline TAP Air has asked passengers not to travel to airports until further notice in an announcement on its Facebook page.
As for Spain, a statement from Aena (which runs international airports across the country) reads: ‘Due to the power outage, some incidents are occurring at the airports. Contingency generators are active. Please check with your airline, as there may be disruptions to access and ground transportation.’
Barcelona airport reportedly lost power for around 40 minutes, and the screens for some gates are still affected.
What about trains?
Railways have also been affected, with Spain’s national operator Renfe stating the ‘entire national electricity grid’ had been ‘cut off’. It seems that most services have been paused and those with passengers on have been evacuated.
What’s the latest travel advice?
The FCDO has just updated its travel advice pages for Spain and Portugal, with a statement reading: ‘We are aware of reports of power outages across Andorra, mainland Spain and mainland Portugal and are monitoring the situation. There may be travel disruption, check with your tour operator or airline for more information before travelling. Follow the advice of the local authorities and monitor local updates.’
You can keep an eye on the Spain travel advice page here, and the Portugal travel advice page here.
Has this happened before?
Power cuts of this magnitude are extremely rare in Europe, but there was another blackout in Europe back in November 2006. Around 15 million people in Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, and Spain were without power for two hours.
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