Spanish government investigates origins, ‘all resources’ focused on solving blackout
Ashifa Kassam
The Spanish government has just confirmed the prime minister Pedro Sánchez’s emergency trip to the national grid operator Red Eléctrica as officials work “to understand the origin” of the incident and what can be done to resolve it quickly.
Here is the statement in full:
The prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has traveled to the control centre of Red Eléctrica, together with the third vice president of the Government and Minister for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, Sara Aagesen, to see firsthand the situation generated in the electricity supply.
The government is working to understand the origin and the impact of this incident and dedicating all resources towards solving it as soon as possible.
We will convey all available information as we have rigourous and verified data.
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Spanish blackout in charts – visual
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Affected by Spain, Portugal blackouts? Email the blog
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‘Six to ten hours’ to restore energy in Spain,’ official says
Jakub Krupa
Multiple Spanish media are carrying quotes from a senior director at Spanish grid operator Red Eléctrica saying it could take “between six and ten” hours to restore energy across the country, as he calls it an unprecedented incident.
Eduardo Prieto, director of operations at Red Eléctrica, declined to comment on the causes of the outage.
European Commission in contact with Spain, Portugal over power outages
Jennifer Rankin
The European Commission has said it is in contact with national authorities in Spain and Portugal over the massive power outages.
It is also in touch with the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E).
“The Commission is in contact with the national authorities of Spain and Portugal as well as ENTSO-E to understand the underlying cause and the impact of the situation.
The Commission will keep monitoring the situation and make sure that there is smooth information exchange amongst all relevant parties.
As per EU legislation in place (emergency and restoration network code), there are protocols in place to restore the functioning of the system.”
Jakub Krupa
I’m also picking up a lot of understandable concern as to the cause of the outage in your emails, but we are obviously steering clear of any speculation on this.
We will bring you updates on this when we get it from official sources.
Your experiences of blackout in Spain, Portugal
Jakub Krupa
I’m getting first emails from you on your experiences of the major power outage in Spain and Portugal.
Jason emailed to say he is “stuck on a Renfe train from Seville about 30-40 miles southwest of Madrid near Toledo,” “stopped on a curve with no real way to be rescued should it come to that.”
“We have no idea when we will be moving again and have little to no info as data is intermittent,” he adds.
James writes in to say he just spoke with a friend in Lagos, Portugal, who reported “no power to the town or surrounding villages,” with schools closing and disrupted mobile coverage.
Nuno is in Guimarães in Portugal and reports that “emergency shoppers crowd the few supermarkets with generators at lunchtime as parents pick students from closed schools.”
Sebastian messaged me from Porto, Portugal, saying “everyone is walking around with nothing to do,” as he worries about problems with payments and shop supplies.
“I am locked out of my apartment as the building has electronic key, que for cash (of the few ATMs working) are long with many people taking out significant sums,” he says.
But he adds that the Portuguese are generally “very relaxed.”
Some people affected indeed appear to be taking it easy (at least for now).
John says that in Torremolinos, Spain “a jolly atmosphere reigns, at least for now,” with fervent and jokey speculations about the cause of the outage.
He adds that the lack of cash caused some panic at the tobacco shop.
(Another) James emailed to say his parents are in Nerja, near Málaga in Spain, on the Costa del Sol. He says the power cut is affecting their ability to pay in some shops and is disrupting supermarkets and restaurants.
But he cheerfully adds:
“Whilst the power cut is of course stressful, the sun is still shining and they’re enjoying a beer.”
(And to confirm that, he even sent me the picture of the said drinks!)
Blackout in Spain, Portugal – in pictures
Spanish blackout in charts – visual
And here’s a useful chart showing the exact moment when the outage happened in Spain, using the data from grid operator Red Eléctrica.
Affected by Spain, Portugal blackouts? Email the blog
If you are in Spain or Portugal and affected by the blackouts, email me with your experiences and pictures on [email protected].
I mentioned earlier the situation of tennis fans after Madrid Open matches were postponed due to power failure affecting the Iberian Peninsula.
Here is the exact moment of the power cut, during a post-match interview with Coco Gauff as the LED ad boards turn black, and the stadium PA system stops working.
Spanish government investigates origins, ‘all resources’ focused on solving blackout
Ashifa Kassam
The Spanish government has just confirmed the prime minister Pedro Sánchez’s emergency trip to the national grid operator Red Eléctrica as officials work “to understand the origin” of the incident and what can be done to resolve it quickly.
Here is the statement in full:
The prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has traveled to the control centre of Red Eléctrica, together with the third vice president of the Government and Minister for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, Sara Aagesen, to see firsthand the situation generated in the electricity supply.
The government is working to understand the origin and the impact of this incident and dedicating all resources towards solving it as soon as possible.
We will convey all available information as we have rigourous and verified data.
Ashifa Kassam
Our community affairs correspondent Ashifa Kassam is in Madrid, near the city’s main thoroughfare of Gran Via.
She says thousands of people in – locals and tourists – are milling around between vehicles, wondering what to make of all this. Police officers are directing traffic as it’s in the heart of the city.
Spanish, Portugese governments to convene emergency cabinet meetings – media
Spanish newspaper El País is reporting plans for an crisis meeting of the Spanish government, to be attended by the country’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez, and finance, environment and transport ministers, to discuss “the worst power outage in recent history” of the country.
Spanish news agency EFE earlier reported that Sánchez was planning to visit the headquarters of the national grid operator.
Similarly, Portuguese newspaper Diário de Notícias is reporting that a special government meeting has also been called in Portugal.
Ashifa Kassam
In Madrid, residents packed into outdoor terraces, others gathered around radios trying to figure out what’s happening. Radio announcers are advising people to ensure they have flashlights in their homes tonight as nobody knows how long this will go on.
