Spain, Portugal, France hit with major power outages, slowing down travel

Lisbon Airport warned travelers that “some operational constraints might occur” due to energy issues. 

“Please contact your airline before heading to the airport,” the airport said on social media. 

The European Commission, the executive body of the European Union, is monitoring the blackout affecting Spain and Portugal. 

“The Commission is in contact with the national authorities of Spain and Portugal and with ENTSO-E (European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity) to understand the underlying cause and the impact of the situation,” an EU spokesperson said to Portuguese news agency LUSA.

The commission, headquartered in Brussels, said there are “protocols in place to restore the functioning of the system.”

Commission President Ursula von Der Leyen said she spoke with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez today, adding, “We will coordinate efforts and share information to help restore the electricity system, and agreed to stay in close contact.”

The Mutua Madrid Open has been canceled due to the nationwide power outage, the tournament said on X. 

The tournament announced that day and night sessions were canceled “for reasons beyond the control of the organization and to guarantee general safety.”

The Madrid Open is an annual professional tennis tournament held in Manzanares Park in late April to early May.

Ukraine’s top energy official said his country will share its “knowledge and experience” in identifying the root cause of a power outage that has paralyzed much of Spain and Portugal.

“Ukraine is ready to assist in restoring the stable operation of the energy networks of our partners and allies in Europe,” Minister of Energy German Galushchenko said in a statement on X. “We are ready to share the knowledge and experience, including those gained during the systematic russian attacks on the energy infrastructure.”

A top European official said there are no early signs that the mass blackout that has plunged much of the Iberian Peninsula into darkness is the work of cyberattackers.

“Grid operators in both countries are working on finding the cause, and on restoring the electricity supply,” European Council President António Costa said on X. “At this point, there are no indications of any cyber attack.”

Costa added that he is in close contact with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Portuguese Prime Minister António Luís Santos da Costa Montenegro.

Getting the lights back on in Spain could take 6 to 10 hours, energy distributor Red Eléctrica said today, following the massive outage affecting the Iberian peninsular.

Eduardo Prieto, head of operations at the grid operator, told a news conference that the situation was “exceptional and extraordinary.”

Renfe, the Spanish railways operator, said in a statement on X that the country’s rail network had halted after “the entire national electricity grid was cut off” after 12.30 p.m. local time today (6:30 a.m. ET). Trains are not departing or arriving at any station, it said.

Air carrier TAP Portugal said today that ticket-holders should not travel to airports until further notice, as Portugal and Spain deal with a crippling power outage.

“Due to the power cut in several European countries, the operation of airports is temporarily very limited. TAP requests that you do not go to the airport until further information,” the airline said on its website.

The mayor of Madrid, the Spanish capital, has told people to stay where they are and ensure that roads are kept clear for emergency services.

“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,” José Luis Martínez-Almeida said in a video on X.

He added that traffic lights and streetlights were out across the city and some road tunnels had been closed.

Tennis players at the Madrid Open were forced to leave the court midmatch as the massive power outage affected scoreboards and cameras, NBC News’ International partner Sky News reported.

The tournament’s organizers said on X that they were “working to restore normality as soon as possible.”

A member of the Portuguese government has said today’s huge power outage could have been caused by a malicious cyberattack, adding that the loss of power is affecting not just Portugal and Spain but also France and Germany.

Portuguese news agency Lusa today attributed the comments to the minister for the territorial cohesion of Portugal, Manuel Castro Almeida.

The National Cyber Security Centre said in a separate statement that “no evidence has yet been identified that points to a cyber-attack.”

Earlier, Lusa reported that the Portuguese government was creating a working group to monitor the blackout and said it was investigating reports that the problem may have originated from outside the country.

A man walks a child through a darkened food market, as another stands in the doorway of an empty bar in Vigo, northwestern Spain, during a nationwide blackout also affecting neighboring Portugal.

Traffic lights are out in Lisbon, planes are stuck at airports and tennis was suspended at the Madrid Open today as an unexplained and widespread power outage caused chaos across the Iberian Peninsula, plunging much of Spain and Portugal into darkness.

Spanish public service broadcaster RTVE reported that the outage hit just after midday local time (6 a.m. ET), leaving its own newsroom in the dark as well as Madrid’s subway stations and the Spanish parliament building.

Spanish electricity grid operator Red Electrica said in a statement that it was working with energy companies to restore power and was gradually beginning to recover power in the north and south of the peninsula.

The two countries have a combined population of 50 million and it is unclear how many people are affected.