Tuesday, January 20, 2026

Latest

Massive blackout hits Spain and Portugal

Spain and Portugal have been paralysed by a widespread power outage on Monday.

A huge power outage struck Spain and Portugal at around noon on Monday, paralyzing public transport and delaying flights. The cause of the blackout has not officially been determined, although an EU grid operator cited a “rare atmospheric phenomenon” as a possible factor.

The governments of the two EU nations have convened emergency cabinet meetings following the outage, which also briefly affected parts of France.

In Spain, blackouts were reported in Seville, Barcelona and Pamplona, with additional disruptions in Valencia. Metro services in Madrid and Barcelona were suspended, forcing passengers to evacuate trains and walk along the tracks, according to footage circulating online. Telephone lines were reportedly down across much of Spain, and Madrid’s main airport was left without power.

Hundreds of people stood outside office buildings on Madrid’s streets and there was a heavy police presence around key buildings, directing traffic and patrolling central atriums with lights, according to Reuters, citing witnesses.

A major tennis tournament in Madrid has been suspended due to the blackout. Spain’s Channel 6 television has continued broadcasting in darkness.

Portugal and parts of southern France also reported network failures, according to local media.

Spain’s national grid operator said a “major incident” in the energy transmission system may have caused the blackout. Power companies stated they were working to restore services as quickly as possible.

The Portuguese grid operator, Redes Energeticas Nacionais (REN), has said a “rare atmospheric phenomenon” over Spain, triggered by “extreme temperature variations,” may have caused the massive blackout.

REN added it is still too early to determine when power will be fully restored.

“At this time, it is still impossible to predict when the situation will be normalized,” it said in a statement, adding that it had “all resources deployed” to resolve the outage, according to AFP.

The president of Madrid’s regional government, Isabel Diaz Ayuso asked Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to authorize the use of the army if needed.

“We ask the national government to activate Plan 3 so that the Army can maintain order, if necessary,” she said.

Sanchez has made an emergency trip to the headquarters of Red Electrica, the national grid operator, as officials work to resolve the outage quickly.

Speaking at a news conference, Red Electrica CEO Eduardo Prieto said the operation to restore power could take “between six and ten hours.”

Senior European Commission Vice-President Teresa Ribera told Spanish Radio 5 that there was no evidence so far that the blackout was caused by a deliberate act such as sabotage or a cyberattack.

Support DTNZ

DTNZ is committed to bringing Kiwis independent, not-for-profit news. We're up against the vast resources of the legacy mainstream media. Help us in the battle against them by donating today.

Promoted Content

No login required to comment. Name, email and web site fields are optional. Please keep comments respectful, civil and constructive. Moderation times can vary from a few minutes to a few hours. Comments may also be scanned periodically by Artificial Intelligence to eliminate trolls and spam.

4 COMMENTS

  1. Spain’s blackout wasn’t just a technical failure. It was a political and strategic failure.
    The blackout highlights just how fragile the new digital and “green” society has become.
    I’m in Spain and trust me the issue isn’t the darkness…No payments possibles without cash (so no food and transportation), very limited internet and no clue whether it’ll actually be resolved,” one X user told Javier.
    https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/spain-hit-massive-really-massive-power-blackout

  2. Here’s the warning sign of a potential and greater ‘Grid-Down’ via satellite EMP, hot weather combined with Level 4 Solar Flare Warnings, etc.
    Bursting a nuke in the upper stratosphere / ionsphere and low Earth Orbit has the same but greater effect over a wider area.
    This is only a practice run!…by nature irself via cosmic energy bursts.
    I wonder how many UFO’s showed up…that’ll be the next attention-grabbing diversion…!

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Wellington
overcast clouds
19.1 ° C
19.1 °
19.1 °
58 %
7.1kmh
96 %
Tue
19 °
Wed
20 °
Thu
18 °
Fri
19 °
Sat
14 °




Sponsored



Trending

Sport

Daily Life

Opinion

DTNZ News Network