The blackout of energy in Spain and Portugal remains a mystery, but leaders promise to solve it and avoid recurrence

The Government of Spain has established a special commission to discover what the Mass blackout That hit the entire country, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced Tuesday, emphasizing that possible causes had not been ruled out. He also joined the broader European Union to promise that everything necessary would be done to avoid recurrence of the electricity grid failure, which motivated the majority of the Iberian Peninsula, composed of Spain and a Portugal neighbor, stopping and leaving people in the dark until Tuesday morning.

“All necessary measures will be taken to ensure that this does not happen again,” Sánchez said during a press conference in Madrid, only a few hours after the lights came back.

The still inexplicable energy cut was the most severe to reach Spain and Portugal, which have a combined population of around 60 million people. According to News, the approximately 49 million inhabitants of Spain saw the generation of energy from their country to fall into around 15 gigawatts, approximately 60% of the typical demand in real time in the nation, in just five seconds, starting just after noon, the local time on Monday.

The Spanish Energy Distributor Red Electrica said on Tuesday that about 99% of its energy capacity had been restored, after many residents of the capital of Spain, Madrid and Lisbon, in neighboring Portugal they slept in total darkness.

The offices through the Iberian Peninsula closed and traffic was left in chaos on Monday. Airports, along with trains and subway systems, stop on the ground, ATMs stopped working and many mobile phone networks fell. Gas generators and battery radios flew out of the shelves.

What caused the blackout in Spain and Portugal?

Sanchez had said on Monday that a problem in the broader European network, which called a “strong oscillation”, had been behind the interruption, but that was never confirmed or exposed by the Spanish leader or the country’s electricity suppliers, and the officials later asked people to refrain from speculation, emphasizing that nothing had been issued. On Tuesday, Sánchez ruled out a possible problem, saying that there was no lack of nuclear energy generation capacity on Monday. About 20% of Spain’s power comes from its nuclear plants.

Ren, the National Electric Network Operator in Portugal, said on Monday that there had been a rare atmospheric phenomenon in Spain, which set in extreme temperature variations, but that explanation was never confirmed, and on Tuesday, the Spain weather agency said that it had not detected any “” atmospheric or unusual meteal phenomenon “or inexplicated the temperature temperature fluctuations.

Eduardo Prieto, who is in charge of the operations for the Red Electric of Spain, said Monday that although the cause was still clear, the power cut had no precedents, “exceptional and extraordinary.”

The company had said on Monday that there were no indications that a cyber attack caused the interruption, but Sánchez said the next day that a separate investigation would continue to observe the possibility.

Antonio Costa, president of the EU European Council, said Tuesday that “there were no indications of any cyber attack.” His colleague Teresa Ribera, one of the executive vice presidents of the European Commission, also seemed to rule out sabotage, but described the blackout “one of the most serious episodes recorded in Europe in recent times.”

The blackout was the second to hit Europe in just over a month. Heathrow airport in London, one of the most busy centers in Europe, It was closed During most March 20, after a local electricity substation, he caught fire. The cause of that fire remains under investigation, but the London Metropolitan Police said it did not seem suspicious.

While no official has suggested that the fire in London or the blackout in the Iberian Peninsula were the result of a dire activity, both occurred in the midst of a greater concern for Russian sabotage operations aimed at the nations of Western Europe that support Ukraine.

A source familiar with the matter confirmed to News themezone in early November that the application agencies of the United States and Europe were working together To investigate If the incendiary devices that detonated in July 2024 in DHL Logistics Hubs in Germany and Great Britain were part of a major Operation led by Russian military intelligence The agencies, senior government officials of Russia, or by external persons acting in the perceived interest of Russia.

There have also been numerous incidents of Submarine cablesmainly, power or telecommunications data, being cut or interrupted in recent years, often after Chinese Russian or linked ships were in the area.

European officials have said that such alleged sabotage actions are part of a Russian “hybrid war” against the sponsors of Ukraine and their democratic adversaries in the West.

Jovita Neliupšienė, Ambassador of the European Union in the United States, said “60 minutes” of News themezone In November, that Russian sabotage, together with the murder of political enemies not only in Russia, but also in European landwas part of President Vladimir Putin’s commitment to challenge “the order, stability of Europe and actually prove” the will of the continent and the ability to respond to such operations.

“All those sabotage, cyber or attacks against critical infrastructure are occurring in the territory of the EU and NATO. They are testing how much they can …” can move. “

In:
• Electricity
• Portugal
• Russia
• Rack
• Spain
• European Union
• Energy cuts
• Blackout