Much of Spain and Portugal darkens in an unprecedented blackout

Barcelona, ​​Spain (AP) – A blackout brought a large part of Spain and Portugal to a dead point on Monday, stopping subway and rail trains, cutting the telephone service and closing traffic lights and ATMs for the 50 million people living through the Iberian Peninsula.

The Spanish Energy Distributor Red Electrica said that restoring the energy completely to the country and the neighboring Portugal could have 6-10 hours. In the afternoon, the voltage was being gradually restored in the north, south and west of the peninsula, said the company.

The company refused to speculate on the causes of the huge blackout. The National Portuguese Cybersecurity Center issued a statement by saying that there were no signs that the interruption was due to a cyber attack.

Eduardo Prieto, head of Operations of Electrica, told journalists that he had no precedents, calling the “exceptional and extraordinary” event.

The Spanish and Portuguese Capital Cities affected

The interruption hit Spain and Portugal, including its capitals, Madrid and Lisbon. The closed offices and traffic growled when traffic lights stopped working. It was not possible to make calls on some mobile phone networks, although some applications were working. In Barcelona, ​​residents entered stores in search of radios with batteries and civilians aimed at traffic at the crosses along the Gran Vía that crosses the city.

Countries have a combined population of more than 50 million people. It was not clear immediately how many were affected. It is rare to have such an extended interruption through the Iberian Peninsula.

The authorities said the cause was not known immediately, although a Portuguese official said the problem seemed to be with the electricity distribution network in Spain.

Armando Franca through News

The Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, convened an extraordinary meeting of the National Security Council of Spain and visited Red Electric to follow the efforts to restore network operations. Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said that he has spoken several times to Sánchez and hoped that power would be restored at the end of the day

The Portuguese cabinet convened an emergency meeting at the residence of the Prime Minister.

The Portugal government said the interruption seemed to come from problems outside the country, an official told the National Portuguese news agency.

“It seems that it was a problem with the distribution network, apparently in Spain. It is still being determined,” said the Leitão Amaro cabinet minister.

The Portuguese distributor E-Redes said the interruption was due to “a problem with the European electrical system,” according to the Portuguese newspaper Expresso. The company said it was obliged to reduce energy in specific areas to stabilize the network, according to expresso.

The interruption just after noon

The public broadcaster of Spain, RTVE, said that a large blackout reached several regions of the country just after the local noon, leaving its writing room, the Parliament of Spain in Madrid and the subway stations throughout the country in the dark.

A chart on the website of the Electric Red of Spain showing the demand throughout the country indicated a strong fall around 12:15 pm of 27,500mw to almost 15,000MW.

Thomas Coex through Getty Images

Spanish airports operated in electrical support systems and some flights were delayed, according to Aena, the company that manages 56 airports in Spain, including Madrid and Barcelona.

In Lisbon, the terminals closed and multitudes of tourists sat outside the sun and the shadow waiting for news about their flights.

“We have not seen any plane arriving or leaving in the 50 minutes we have been waiting for here,” said Dutch tourist Marc Brandsma to The News.

Training services in both countries stop. The video broadcast on Spanish Television showed people who evacuated subway stations in Madrid and empty stations with detainees in Barcelona.

The Spanish Parliament in Madrid closed and plays in the Open Madrid tennis tournament was suspended. Three games were being underway when power was reduced.

The Traffic Department of Spain asked citizens to avoid using their cars as much as possible due to the power cut, which has affected traffic lights and signage of the electric road.

The streets of Barcelona full of crowds of people on the sidewalks, circling in front of dark stores and offices and exchanging information about what had happened.

A search for connectivity

The immediate concerns were which telephone companies still had irregular coverage or where Internet access could be found. Another concern was how to get home with the closed subway and packed public buses. Some took advantage of the lack of connectivity and transport to enjoy the sun on the terraces of the restaurants.

In Terrassa, an industrial city at 50 kilometers (30 miles) in Barcelona, ​​the stores that sold generators were exhausted after people align to buy them.

In Portugal, a country of about 10.6 million people, the interruption reached Lisbon and the surrounding areas, as well as in northern and south parts. The Portuguese police placed more officers in service to direct traffic and deal with the greatest requests for help, including people trapped in elevators.

Hospitals and other emergency services in Spain and Portugal changed to generators. The service stations stopped working.

The National Authority of Portugal for Emergencies and Civil Protection said that the support energy systems were operating.

Several Lisbon subway cars were evacuated, according to reports. Also in Portugal, the courts stopped working and ATMs and electronic payment systems were affected.

Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal. Joe Wilson in Barcelona contributed.