Massive Power Outage Hits spain And portugal, Traffic Lights Disrupted, people Evacuated From Trains
A major power outage has caused blackouts across Spain. red Eléctrica, the country's electricity grid operator, has activated plans to restore the supply.
Spain and portugal have been hit by a massive power outage that caused widespread blackouts, Spain’s electricity network operator has said. Spanish grid operator red Eléctrica said it had activated plans to restore the supply, with “all resources dedicated to solving” the disruption.
The Iberian Peninsula, with a combined population of more than 50 million people, has been affected. Spain’s public broadcaster RTVE reported that the outage hit several regions of the country at around 12:30 pm local time, leaving its newsroom, Spain’s parliament in Madrid, and metro stations across the country in darkness.
People in neighborhood whatsapp chats in Barcelona and its outskirts also reported the outage, The Guardian reported.
In portugal, a country of about 10.6 million people, the blackout impacted the capital, Lisbon, and surrounding areas, as well as northern and southern regions.
The Portuguese distributor E-Redes said the outage was due to “a problem with the european electricity system,” according to the Portuguese newspaper Expresso.
The company said it was compelled to cut power in specific areas to stabilise the network, The Guardian reported citing Portuguese newspaper Expresso.
Mobile phone calls could not be made during the outage, although some apps continued working.
Madrid Underground Evacuated, Traffic Lights Stop Functioning In Madrid City
According to the , the outage began soon after midday Spanish time and appeared to affect cities across mainland spain, though the Balearic and Canary Islands were not impacted. Mainland portugal and Andorra also experienced a similar blackout. Public transport was disrupted, with passengers evacuated from trains and traffic lights affected.
Spanish radio stations reported that part of the Madrid underground was evacuated, while traffic jams built up in Madrid city center as traffic lights stopped functioning, according to Cadena Ser radio station cited by news agency Reuters.
Portuguese police said traffic lights were affected across the country, the metro was closed in Lisbon and Porto, and trains were not running.
In Madrid, many businesses, shops, and restaurants were plunged into darkness, and internet service was also disrupted.
Spanish grid operator red Eléctrica said it was working with energy companies to restore power. In an update, red Eléctrica said it was beginning to recover power in the north and south of the country, describing this as “key to gradually restoring the electricity supply.”
“We continue working to restore power,” it added.
Earlier, the company confirmed the outages and said all its resources were being dedicated to solving the issue.
There were also reports that areas in belgium and france had been affected. Residents of Andorra and parts of france bordering spain reported being hit by the blackout, as per Euro News.
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