30.04.2025 14:40
Portugal, Spain, France, and many other European countries experienced power outages that paralyzed life. Due to outages that caused 60% of the grid to go offline within 5 seconds, almost everything became unusable, from transportation to healthcare, and from shopping to communication. The cost of the darkness was quite heavy. In Spain, electricity prices increased by 450% in just one day.
In many European countries, the heavy toll of power outages that paralyzed life for hours has been significant. The Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported that electricity prices increased by 450% in just one day following the crisis.
60% OF THE GRID WENT OFFLINE
A large-scale power outage that occurred across Spain, the source of which is still unclear, brought life to a standstill nationwide. At the moment of the incident, 60% of the electricity grid went offline within just 5 seconds.
ENERGY TRADE SUSPENDED
Despite the electricity grid being reactivated, the effects of the outage continue, especially for small businesses and households. The crisis has also raised serious questions about energy security. Neighboring country Portugal announced that it has suspended energy trade with Spain as a "preventive measure."
SOME TRAIN SERVICES ARE STILL OPERATING GRADUALLY
One of the sectors most affected by the outage was railways. Renfe has resumed public service at full capacity on suburban trains in Madrid, the Basque Country, Valencia, Asturias, Cantabria, and Galicia. However, Rodalies de Catalunya is still operating services gradually on the R1, R2 North, R2 South, R3, and R4 lines. In the Cercanías lines in the Andalusia region, services have returned to normal except for some exceptions.
NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL MET EMERGENCY SESSION
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez held the fifth extraordinary meeting of the National Security Council this Wednesday at Moncloa to assess the effects of the crisis. During the meeting, measures to prevent a similar outage from occurring again were discussed.
INFRASTRUCTURE IS VERY FRAGILE
While no official explanation has yet been provided regarding the cause of the power outage, the incident has once again highlighted how fragile the energy infrastructure can be across Spain and Portugal.