Lagatar24 Desk
Madrid: Major news has emerged from European nations Spain and Portugal. According to the Associated Press, the capitals of both countries faced a widespread power outage. Parts of France and Belgium also experienced blackouts.
Emergency Cabinet Meetings Convened
The power failure brought public transport to a standstill, caused massive traffic jams, and severely disrupted airline operations. Following the outage, both the Spanish and Portuguese governments immediately convened emergency cabinet meetings.
Spain’s state electricity company, Red Eléctrica, stated it is working on restoring power supply. An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the blackout, and authorities are making every possible effort to resolve the issue.
Train Services Paralyzed
According to BBC reports citing Spain’s national railway company Renfe, the entire national electrical grid was disrupted at approximately 12:30 pm local time. Trains across the country came to a halt, and no train movement was possible at any station.
The blackout also disrupted the ongoing Madrid Open (an annual clay court tennis tournament), forcing British tennis player Jacob Fearnley to abandon his match midway.
Parliament And Metro Stations Plunged Into Darkness
Experts noted that such a massive power cut across Spain and Portugal is highly unusual. Spain’s national broadcaster RTVE reported that the blackout hit many regions around 12:30 pm local time, affecting the newsroom, the Spanish Parliament, and metro stations across the country.
Portugal’s Capital Lisbon Submerged In Darkness
In Portugal (population 10.6 million), the sudden blackout plunged the capital Lisbon and surrounding areas, as well as northern and southern parts of the country, into darkness.
Portuguese newspaper Expresso quoted the country’s power distributor E-Redes as saying that the disruption was caused by an issue within the European power system. The company explained that, to stabilize the grid, power had to be cut in specific areas.
According to E-Redes, some regions of France were also affected. The blackout led to a collapse of the mobile network, and several Lisbon subway services were suspended. Traffic lights in the city also stopped functioning.
