Major Power Outage Disrupts Transport Across Spain and Portugal
Monday, April 28th, 2025
Update Tuesday, 29/4/2025
Power has been restored to most affected areas across Spain. The airport operator Aena provided the following update this morning:
“UPDATE 07:00 – #powercut:
All airports remain operational. We recommend that passengers check the status of public transport services to the airports and confirm their flight status with their airline due to possible rescheduling from yesterday. Overnight, airports have adjusted their schedules to accommodate rebooked passengers, and no significant crowding has been reported in the terminals.”
Monday, 28/4/2025
Widespread blackout hits Iberian Peninsula
On Monday, the 28th of April 2025, a significant power outage affected large parts of Spain and Portugal, leaving millions without electricity. The blackout, which began around 12:30 PM local time, disrupted daily life and critical infrastructure across the Iberian Peninsula. Tenerife, which is on a separate grid to the Spanish mainland, has remained unaffected.
Transport networks severely affected
The power failure had a profound impact on transportation systems across Spain:
Rail services
Spain’s national railway operator, Renfe, reported a complete halt of all train services, including long-distance, regional, and commuter lines. The Madrid Metro and other urban rail networks were also brought to a standstill.
Road traffic
Traffic lights in major cities ceased functioning, leading to significant congestion and increased risk of accidents. Authorities urged residents to avoid unnecessary travel.
Airports
While major airports like Madrid-Barajas and Barcelona-El Prat switched to emergency generators, the Spanish airport operator Aena reported “some disruptions” at airports due to the outage.
In a statement, Aena, the Spanish airport operator, published the following information:
“Airports are operational with contingency electrical systems. The impact on flights will depend on the difficulties passengers and crew face in reaching the airport. Some delays are occurring. Please check with your airline for the status of your flight.”
Enaire, responsible for air traffic control across Spain, gave the following information:
“The air traffic management operations from the five control centres of @ENAIRE are being maintained with support from the backup generators designed for this type of incident. The appropriate regulations have been activated to ensure the full safety of operations.”
Tenerife South Airport
Tenerife South Airport is operating normally; however, some flight delays may occur due to ripple effects from other airports.
Restoration efforts and ongoing investigations
Authorities are investigating the cause of the outage. Efforts to restore power across the affected regions are ongoing. Spanish power distributor Red Eléctrica estimated that full restoration could take between six and ten hours.
Featured image courtesy of Miguel Á. Padriñán, Pexels