Electricity and transport disrupted
A major power failure on April 28, 2025, left homes and businesses without electricity across mainland Spain, Portugal and Andorra, with connected areas of southern France also affected. The interruption began at 12:32 p.m., according to Spanish grid operator Red Eléctrica. Spain’s island systems, along with the Balearic and Canary Islands, remained outside the mainland failure; Ceuta and Melilla also retained power.
Red Eléctrica described the event as exceptional in its history. The operator reported observing a severe oscillation in power flows, followed by the Spanish system disconnecting from the wider European network. It did not initially identify the underlying cause. Eduardo Prieto, Red Eléctrica’s operations director, estimated that restoring service to the final affected users could take between six and 10 hours.
The outage stopped rail traffic throughout Spain, affecting commuter, medium-distance and high-speed services. Adif told passengers not to travel to stations. Metro systems in Madrid, Barcelona and València were also interrupted, while emergency workers assisted passengers stranded on trains. Some airports experienced cuts and switched to generators; Madrid-Barajas and Barcelona-El Prat continued operating with backup power. Essential hospital activity was maintained.
Road conditions became more difficult as traffic lights and electronic signs lost power. Emergency services asked people to reserve calls to 112 for genuine emergencies, while the Directorate-General for Traffic urged the public to limit journeys. Police deployments were reinforced, although La Vanguardia reported no immediate security incidents.
The Spanish government convened the National Security Council at La Moncloa. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez urged the public not to speculate about the cause and said no hypothesis had initially been excluded. He also requested responsible mobile-phone use and avoidance of unnecessary travel. After Madrid, Andalusia and Extremadura sought activation of the highest national emergency level, Sánchez said the central government would assume responsibility for managing the situation.
Restoration proceeded by gradually energizing the transmission network and reconnecting generating units. Red Eléctrica said voltage was first recovered in northern and southern areas. By 7:21 p.m., 5,508 megawatts—about one-fifth of mainland demand—had been restored through domestic generation and the French interconnection, while 45% of transmission substations had been energized. Supply had returned in parts of numerous regions, including Catalonia, the Basque Country, Andalusia and Madrid.
Authorities also examined whether malicious activity might have caused the failure. Spain’s National Cryptologic Center opened an inquiry into a possible cyberattack, but European Commission official Teresa Ribera said there was no evidence pointing to one. By the following Tuesday, Red Eléctrica said 99.95% of mainland demand had been restored and ruled out a cyberattack. Sánchez announced an investigative commission and asked private operators to cooperate in establishing the precise cause.
