Spain and Parts of Portugal and France Hit by Widespread Power Outage

Spain and Portugal were hit by a major power outage on Monday, bringing to a halt daily activity throughout the two countries, with businesses shutting down along with trains, subways and airline flights.

Officials did not say what caused the outage, which affected tens of millions of people across the Iberian Peninsula, but several denied any foul play.

“At this point, there are no indications of any cyberattack,” António Costa, the president of the European Council, wrote in a post on X.

Portuguese energy authorities said the outage occurred following a disruption in the European grid, but did not provide details. After a report that an unspecified “atmospheric phenomenon” had caused the outage, REN, a Portuguese electricity and gas supplier, vigorously denied that was the reason.

“That news is fake news,” Bruno Silva, a spokesman for REN, said in a phone interview. “It is giving us a really, really big headache.”

By late Monday afternoon, power was flickering back on in many areas.

Spain’s national power company, Red Eléctrica said that power had returned to many parts of the country, including in Catalonia, Aragon, the Basque Country, Galicia, Asturias, Navarre, Castile and León, Extremadura, and Andalusia.

The outage also briefly affected France. RTE, the French electrical grid operator, said in a statement that some households in the country’s Basque region had briefly lost electricity, but that “all power has since been restored.”

The effects of the disruption were felt by millions of people across the Iberian Peninsula, as authorities activated emergency plans. Top Spanish officials convened a meeting of the National Security Council on Monday.

Long lines started to form outside ATMs. There were widespread problems connecting to the internet and to phone networks across Spain and Portugal.

“Due to the power outage, we ask that you avoid driving as much as possible,” the Spanish traffic authority wrote in a post on X. “The power outage prevents traffic lights and road signs from working.”

Major institutions went into crisis-management mode. Hospitals in Spain were forced to run on generators. Portuguese banks and schools closed. Matches for the Madrid Open tennis tournament were suspended, the ATP Tour said.

Train travel was disrupted throughout Spain. Renfe, Spain’s national rail company, wrote in a post on X that “at 12:30 p.m., the entire national electricity grid was cut off,” adding that trains had stopped operating at all stations. Subways in several cities, including Valencia and Madrid, were also halted.

Later, the country’s transportation minister, Oscar Puente, said on X that railways would remain closed all day.

Joe Meert, a professor at the University of Florida, had spent much of the day with his wife, Michelle, on a train that stopped suddenly in a rural area on the track somewhere between Madrid and Valencia. After three hours, he said, the dining cart was down to just beer and a few soft drinks.

“We are out of water,” Mr. Meert, 67, said in a phone interview, as he watched some riders step down off the train and walk toward a tractor where a farmer was delivering water. The train staff were walking from car to car delivering news, since the loudspeaker no longer worked, he said.

Some flights were delayed, too, Aena, which manages many Spanish airports, wrote in a post on X.

EasyJet, the airline, told passengers on Monday morning that “Spanish airports are currently experiencing ongoing power outages affecting multiple essential systems and airport infrastructure.” The airline said it expected delays and described the disruptions as “extraordinary and outside of our control.”

Millions of people across the region tried to deal with the disruptions while they still had daylight to spare.

In Lisbon, Portugal’s capital, people started racing to grocery stores to fill up on water and dried goods. Many were out of luck: Some major grocery stores were closed Monday afternoon. Smaller groceries struggled to refill shelves that were quickly emptying. At some counters, clerks were tallying bills by hand using paper and pen, since electronic scanners and cash registers were no longer working.

“It’s like when I was younger, 50 years ago,” said Francisco Garcia, 61, a boat restorer living in the old part of Lisbon.

For the first 30 minutes, Mr. Garcia was able to get access to news updates on his phone. Since then, the news sites have crashed, he said, leaving him in the middle of the city in crisis with no information.

“We are in a total blackout,” he said, adding, “It’s a reminder of how dependent we are on things outside of our own control.”

In Peniche, a small coastal city about 50 miles north of Lisbon, only one grocery store was still open on Monday afternoon. Dozens of people waited in front of each cashier.

Elsewhere in the city, André Lima, 33, waited at an A.T.M., along with about 50 other people. Mr. Lima, who works at a health-care complex for seniors, said he worried about the oxygen supply for some residents.

“There are people whose life depends on power supply,” he said.

In Murcia, a city in southeastern Spain, crosswalk signs and traffic lights went dark, though some still drove cars carefully through the streets.

Teresa Garcia, 92, sat in a wheelchair outside her house around lunchtime. She was waiting for the power to return so the elevator could take her back up to her apartment, she said.

At the Capilla del Apóstol Santiago, a small group of parishioners had gathered in the dark church, and altar candles were lit by people praying for those affected by the blackout, including “all those trapped in elevators.”

People seemed to mostly be adapting to the disruption. Some had picnics in the park. Restaurant terraces were full. And while the midday sunlight still shone brightly, indoor flamenco classes continued, as people practiced in the light streaming in from the windows.

Catherine Porter, Azam Ahmed and Nazaneen Ghaffar contributed reporting.