Spain vows to solve massive blackout mystery, prevent it from happening again

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Nearly fractional of Spain's powerfulness restored

Nearly fractional of Spain's powerfulness restored aft outage, premier curate says 02:30

Spain's authorities has acceptable up a peculiar committee to fig retired what caused the massive powerfulness outage that deed virtually the full country, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced Tuesday, stressing that nary imaginable causes had been ruled out. He besides joined the wider European Union successful vowing that everything indispensable would beryllium done to forestall a recurrence of the energy grid failure, which crushed astir of the Iberian Peninsula — composed of Spain and neighboring Portugal — to a halt and near radical successful the acheronian until Tuesday morning.

"All the indispensable measures volition beryllium taken to guarantee that this does not hap again," Sánchez said during a quality league successful Madrid, conscionable hours aft the lights came backmost on.

Monday's still-unexplained powerfulness outage was the astir terrible ever to deed Spain and Portugal, which person a combined colonisation of astir 60 cardinal people. According to The Associated Press, Spain's astir 49 cardinal inhabitants saw their country's powerfulness procreation driblet by astir 15 gigawatts — astir 60% of the emblematic real-time request successful the federation — successful the abstraction of conscionable 5 seconds, starting conscionable aft noon section clip connected Monday.

Spanish powerfulness distributor Red Eléctrica said aboriginal Tuesday that astir 99% of its powerfulness capableness had been restored, aft galore residents of some Spain's superior Madrid and Lisbon successful neighboring Portugal went to slumber successful full darkness.

Spain suffers monolithic ongoing blackout

Offices crossed the Iberian Peninsula were closed and postulation was near successful chaos connected Monday. Airports, on with trains and subway systems, crushed to a halt, ATMs ceased to function, and galore mobile telephone networks went down. Gas-powered generators and battery-powered radios flew disconnected shelves.

What caused the powerfulness outage successful Spain and Portugal?

Sánchez had said Monday that a occupation successful the wider European grid, which helium called a "strong oscillation," had been down the outage, but that was ne'er confirmed oregon expounded upon by the Spanish person oregon the country's energy providers, and officials subsequently asked radical to refrain from speculation, stressing that thing had been ruled out. On Tuesday, Sánchez did regularisation retired 1 imaginable issue, saying determination had been nary deficiency of atomic powerfulness procreation capableness connected Monday. About 20% of Spain's powerfulness comes from its atomic plants.

REN, Portugal's nationalist energy grid operator, said Monday determination had been a uncommon atmospheric improvement successful Spain, which it pinned connected utmost somesthesia variations, but that mentation was besides ne'er confirmed, and connected Tuesday, Spain's meteorological bureau said it had not detected immoderate "unusual meteorological oregon atmospheric phenomena" oregon unexpectedly melodramatic somesthesia fluctuations the erstwhile day.

Eduardo Prieto, who's successful complaint of operations for Spain's Red Eléctrica, said Monday that portion the origin remained unclear, the powerfulness outage was unprecedented, "exceptional and extraordinary."

The institution had said Monday that determination was nary denotation of a cyberattack causing the outage, but Sánchez said the pursuing time that a abstracted probe would proceed looking astatine the possibility.

Antonio Costa, president of the EU's European Council, said Tuesday that determination were "no indications of immoderate cyberattack." His workfellow Teresa Ribera, 1 of the enforcement vice presidents of the European Commission, besides seemed to regularisation retired sabotage, but she called the blackout "one of the astir superior episodes recorded successful Europe successful caller times."

The powerfulness outage was the 2nd to deed Europe successful conscionable implicit a month. London's Heathrow Airport, 1 of Europe's busiest hubs, was unopen down for astir of March 20 aft a section energy substation went up successful flames. The origin of that occurrence remains nether investigation, but London's Metropolitan Police said it did not look suspicious.

Workers are seen arsenic fume rises from the North Hyde electrical substation, which caught fire, starring to the closure of Heathrow Airport, successful London, March 21, 2025.

While nary officials person suggested that either the occurrence successful London oregon the blackout connected the Iberian Peninsula were the effect of nefarious activity, they some came amid heightened interest implicit Russian sabotage operations targeting Western European nations that enactment Ukraine.

A root acquainted with the substance confirmed to CBS News successful aboriginal November that U.S. and European instrumentality enforcement agencies were moving unneurotic to investigate whether incendiary devices that detonated successful July 2024 astatine DHL logistics hubs successful Germany and Britain were portion of a larger operation directed by Russian subject intelligence agencies, elder officials successful Russia's government, oregon by extracurricular individuals acting successful Russia's perceived interest.

There person besides been galore incidents of undersea cables, mostly carrying powerfulness oregon telecommunications data, being severed oregon disrupted successful caller years, often aft Russian oregon Chinese-linked vessels were successful the area.

European officials person said specified alleged sabotage actions are portion of a Russian "hybrid war" against Ukraine's backers and its antiauthoritarian adversaries successful the West.

Jovita Neliupšienė, the European Union's ambassador to the United States, told CBS News' "60 Minutes" successful November that Russian sabotage, on with the assassination of governmental foes not lone successful Russia, but on European soil, was portion of President Vladimir Putin's bid to situation "the order, the stableness of Europe, and really testing" the continent's volition and capableness to respond to specified operations.

"All those sabotage, cyber, oregon attacks connected captious infrastructure is really happening connected EU and NATO territory. They are investigating however overmuch they ... tin move."

Tucker Reals

Tucker Reals is CBSNews.com's overseas editor, based successful the CBS News London bureau. He has worked for CBS News since 2006, anterior to which helium worked for The Associated Press successful Washington, D.C., and London.

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