Massive Blackout Hits Western Europe: Cyberattack Suspected as Spain, Portugal, and More Face Power Outages

Western Europe was shaken by an unprecedented power outage that impacted Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Andorra. Local media outlets, including Portugal’s Publico and Spain’s El Mundo, report that preliminary investigations suggest a potential cyberattack as the cause, although official confirmation remains pending.

The widespread blackout resulted in chaos across major cities, halting transportation and disrupting mobile communications, which heightened panic among residents. In Portugal, the Lisbon metro was completely paralyzed, while residents in the Algarve and Coimbra reported significant power and internet outages. Similarly, in Spain, cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, and Pamplona experienced outages, with Madrid-Barajas Airport ceasing operations and the metro systems in both Madrid and Barcelona having to evacuate passengers through tunnels.

Local outages were also recorded in Burgundy, France, and residential areas of Belgium and the Netherlands, while Andorra was left entirely powerless, according to reports from Vanguardia.

Spain’s grid operator, Red Electrica, noted a dramatic drop in power consumption from 25 MW to 184 MW at approximately 12:425 p.m. local time, indicative of a system failure. The operator is collaborating with distribution networks to restore power, but the precise cause remains undetermined. Spain’s national railway company, RENFE, reported that train services were halted nationwide due to the outage.

Portugal’s Minister of Territorial Development, Manuel Castro Almeida, commented that the scale of the incident was “comparable to a cyberattack,” though he emphasized that this information has not yet been verified. Spain’s National Institute for Cybersecurity (INCIBE) has initiated an investigation into the possible cyberattack, but no conclusions have been reached thus far.

The blackout led to serious disruptions: traffic lights failed, paralyzing roadways, and shops and payment systems went offline. In Portugal, operator E-Redes attributed the failure to a problem within the European power grid. In Madeira, sirens were triggered in certain establishments, and both Lisbon and Porto saw their metro systems closed. The Madrid Open tennis tournament was also suspended, as reported by the BBC.

In response to the crisis, the governments of Spain and Portugal have convened emergency meetings. Authorities in Madrid are coordinating their response through Moncloa, while France and Belgium remain on high alert. Experts interviewed by Cadena SER have not ruled out the possibility of a technical malfunction; however, the prevailing theory points towards a cyberattack given the synchronized nature of the outages across multiple countries.

Further updates are expected as the situation develops.