Spain’s national energy provider announced on Monday that the widespread blackout affecting Spain and Portugal could continue for 6 to 10 hours, according to local reports.
Eduardo Prieto, Director of Services at Red Eléctrica, described the outage as “exceptional and highly unusual,” adding that full restoration could take several hours, El País reported.
Red Eléctrica confirmed that power had begun returning in the northern and southern parts of the Iberian Peninsula, although the blackout — whose cause remains unclear — is still disrupting transportation in multiple regions.
The outage, which occurred around midday Monday, impacted not only Spain and Portugal but also parts of Andorra and southern France.
Authorities have launched an investigation into the incident, and Spain’s National Cybersecurity Institute is examining the possibility of a cyberattack being involved.
In response, the Spanish government convened an emergency meeting with Red Eléctrica, attended by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and several senior ministers. Meanwhile, Madrid’s local government has also initiated an emergency response to manage the situation.
