Power outages in Spain and Portugal appear to have been caused by a “rare atmospheric phenomenon”, according to one grid operator which warned it could take up to a week to restore the power grid.
Portuguese grid operator REN said the phenomenon in Spain was due to “extreme temperature variations in the country’s interior” which caused the power outages across the Iberian peninsula.
Capital cities Madrid and Lisbon, as well as Seville, Barcelona and Valencia, have been left without the internet and electricity, sparking travel mayhem at their airports.
Parts of Madrid’s underground network were evacuated and traffic lights are not working in the city.
Spain’s public broadcaster RTVE said a major power outage hit several regions of the country at around 12:30 pm local time, leaving its newsroom in the dark.
The country’s railway operator, Renfe, added that the “entire National Electricity Grid was cut off” and that trains were unable to depart from stations.
E-Redes, a Spanish electricity grid monitoring company, said in a statement it was working on reestablishing connection in phases.
“This is a wider European problem,” it added.
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‘I’m stranded in Lisbon due to the power cuts’
Video journalist Caspar Barnes is currently stuck in Lisbon due to the power cuts. Here he reports:
I’m stranded out in Lisbon due to the power cuts. All flights have been grounded and police are guarding the entrance of the airport to prevent more people from entering. As a result hundreds of people are gathered outside the airport huddling in the shade in the hope of getting more information.
Airport staff I’ve spoken with are encouraging people to turn away from the airport and go back into the city.
Buses are offering free fairs for the day but are extremely crowded and struggling through congestion that is no longer regulated by traffic lights.
Wireless payments are also down and internet phone service is faltering on many people’s devices.
Shops and stores have been closing across the city. Now I need to go find a cash point and see whether hotels have any space tonight!
Unidade Especial de Policia special forces are helping with crowd control at the airport. They are telling stranded travellers, “Go back to the city,” adding, “Stay at home tonight when it gets dark.”
In pictures: Barcelona hit by outages
WATCH: Electricity blackout fears cause panic buying in Madrid as residents flock to supermarkets
Electricity blackout fears cause panic buying in Madrid as residents flock to shops
Lisbon airport worst affected by power outage, with three out of 10 flights grounded and arrival delays of almost two hours
Travel Correspondent Simon Calder reports…
According to the aviation analyst Cirium, three out of 10 flights from Lisbon have been cancelled so far – a total of 96 departures.
Nine flights from the UK to Portugal are grounded.
At both Madrid and Barcelona, fewer than 3 per cent of departures are grounded.
More than 6,000 flights to and from Spain were expected today, with Madrid, Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca seeing the highest numbers.
Portugal was expecting 1,400 flights.
At 5.20pm UK/Portugal time (6.20pm Spanish time), the delays in minutes in arrivals/departures are as follows at the key airports:
Lisbon: 114/12
Faro: 5/25
Porto: 5/39
Madrid: 31/63
Barcelona: 19/39
Palma: 5/30
Spanish PM asks people to use phones responsibly as he stresses importance of official information channels
Prime minister Pedro Sánchez warned the public to use phones “responsibly” as now is a critical moment for telecommunications in the country.
Sánchez said there will be an increased presence of security forces in the streets but added that the outages have so far not cause any security issues across the country.
The PM also stressed the importance of only relying on official channels for information following unverified speculation about the cause of the outage.
Electricity has been restored to areas in the north and south of Spain
Prime minister Sánchez has said that electricity has been restored to some areas in the north and the south of Spain “thanks to help from France and Morocco.”
“We urge you to turn to official channels for information,” he said, imploring people in Spain to avoid failing “for disinformation”.
Power cut cause remains unknown, says Sanchez
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said the cause of the power cut is still unknown, as he warned against speculation.
No cause can be discredited at this point, he added.
Spain’s Prime Minister is now speaking in a press conference
We will bring you the top lines shortly as Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez speaks in a press conference.
Everything currently broken in Spain and Portugal’s mass power outage
Albert Toth reveals everything that has been affected by the power outages.
Source: independent.co.uk
