During a general power outage in Madrid on April 28, spectators roamed the Madrid Open Tennis Championship venue. Manu Fernandez/Ap Closed subtitles
Massive power outages on Monday put parts of Spain, Portugal and southern France into darkness. The lights are back, but the cause of the power outage is still unclear.
The power sweep across the Iberian Peninsula began at local time. As of Monday night, power has been partially restored in the three countries, but large swaths of the area are still powerless.
The power outages have suspended almost every aspect of daily life, with tens of millions of people - destroying subways, cutting telephone services and turning off traffic lights and ATM machines. Meanwhile, the backup system maintains power for hospitals, nuclear power plants and prisons.
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People used their phones as flashlights to buy groceries in Madrid, Spain on April 28. Diego radames/anadolu by Getty Images Closed subtitles
In a press conference Monday night, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said that in Spain, there has never been a power outage of this scale nationwide.
He added that in a few seconds, a large amount of electricity (equivalent to 60% of Spain's electricity demand) was lost. Sanchez said the root cause of the power outage is not clear and there is no theory left out.
Earlier on Monday, European Council President and former Portugal Prime Minister António Costa said on X that so far there are no signs that suggest a cyber attack.
A pastry shop lacks light on April 28, 2025 in Tarragona, Spain. (Photography via Getty Image Francisco Richart Barbeira/Nurphoto by Getty Images Closed subtitles
On Monday night, Sanchez said almost half of the power supply in Spain had been recycled. He added that nearly every region of Spain showed improvement. He also thanked France and Morocco for their help in bringing back the electricity.
According to Spanish electricity distributor Red Eléctrica, the areas where power is restored are major cities, including the country's capitals Madrid and Murcia, as well as Catalonia, the home of Barcelona.
The Prime Minister said that despite the progress made, it is unclear how long it will take to restore full power throughout Spain.
On April 28, the family ate candlelight snacks during a power outage in Barcelona, Spain. Emilio Morenatti/Ap Closed subtitles
Meanwhile, Portuguese grid operator Ren said that as of Monday night, the electricity from 750,000 customers in Portugal were back. The U.S. capital Lisbon has not yet recovered electricity, but Lun said services are expected to resume soon.
Massive power outages caused Spain and Portugal to stagnate on Monday.
Public transport, including subway and rail services, was suspended in Spain. The country's transport minister Oscar Puente wrote on X.
On April 28, people waited outside a closed subway station during a power outage in Barcelona, Spain. Emilio Morenatti/Ap Closed subtitles
The power outage also caused dozens of flight delays and cancellations at Lisbon, Madrid and Barcelona airports, according to flight tracking site Flightaware.com. But AENA, which manages many Spanish airports, said on X that most airports will be able to be operational on Mondays thanks to backup electrical systems.
NPR contributed reports in Paris Eleanor Beardsley and Spain’s Miguel Macias.