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A significant power outage has struck Spain and Portugal, affecting both capitals and numerous regions. Spanish energy provider RedElectrica announced on Monday that the Iberian Peninsula is under review and response efforts are in progress. The company stated in a social media update that they have begun restoring electricity in various northern and southern areas of Spain.
Such extensive outages are uncommon in this region. The combined population of Spain and Portugal exceeds 50 million, but the exact number of those impacted remains unclear.
According to Spain’s state broadcaster RTVE, the outage occurred around 12:30 p.m. local time, leading to disruptions in several regions, including blackouts in the newsroom, the Spanish parliament in Madrid, and metro stations nationwide.
Residents of Barcelona and nearby towns shared their experiences of the outage via local WhatsApp groups, highlighting its widespread impact.
In Portugal, which has around 10.6 million residents, the outage affected the capital, Lisbon, along with various regions in the north and south of the country. Portuguese electricity distributor E-Redes attributed the outage to “a problem with the European electricity system,” as reported by the newspaper Expresso. To stabilize the network, the company stated that they had to implement power cuts in specific areas.
Additionally, E-Redes confirmed that parts of France experienced similar disruptions. During the outage, mobile phone networks were largely unusable, although some applications remained operational. Reports from Spanish radio indicate that parts of Madrid were subject to evacuation, according to Reuters. Unverified information also indicated that the Lisbon subway ceased operations, and traffic signals in the city center failed.
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