A massive power outage struck the Iberian Peninsula on April 28, 2025, plunging millions of people into darkness as electricity supplies were suddenly cut across Spain and Portugal.
Sources from the electric sector suggest a cyberattack is the most likely cause of this unprecedented failure, though authorities have not officially confirmed this.
The blackout began around 12:30 local time (10:30 GMT) when Spain’s electricity demand suddenly plummeted from 25,184 megawatts to 12,425 megawatts in just moments. Technical experts refer to this as a “cero energético” – a complete collapse of the electrical system.
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Electric sector sources dismiss the possibility of a simple short circuit, noting that Red Eléctrica has systems to isolate affected areas and prevent nationwide failures under normal circumstances.
“When we see a total grid collapse like this, it’s extremely difficult to restore quickly. The network must be rebuilt node by node, which can take hours or even days,” explained an industry expert.
Widespread Disruption Across Multiple Countries
The outage extended beyond Spain to affect all of Portugal, parts of southern France, and Andorra. Only Spain’s island territories – the Canary Islands and Balearics – were spared due to their independent power generation systems.
Critical infrastructure across the region experienced immediate disruption. Madrid’s Barajas International Airport suspended operations, metro systems in major cities shut down, and telecommunications networks collapsed. Traffic lights failed throughout urban areas, creating chaos at intersections, while many people became trapped in elevators.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited Red Eléctrica’s control center alongside the Minister for Ecological Transition to assess the situation firsthand. The Spanish Cybersecurity Coordination Office is investigating, though officials caution it is “too early” to draw definitive conclusions about the cause.
Red Eléctrica has activated emergency restoration plans, with initial reports indicating power is gradually being restored from the northern and southern regions of the peninsula.
The recovery process relies heavily on hydroelectric power, as renewable sources cannot provide sufficient grid stability, and gas and nuclear plants require significant time to restart.
Cloudflare Radar data shows internet traffic dropped by approximately 30% in Portugal and 37% in Spain following the outage.
The International Energy Agency recently warned that cyberattacks against utilities worldwide have more than doubled between 2020 and 2022.
This is a developing story.
