6 hours ago
Morning opening: How did it happen?
Jakub Krupa
Lights flickered back to life across most of Spain and Portugal after a massive blackout hit the Iberian peninsula, stranding passengers in trains and elevators while millions lost phone and internet coverage.
As of Tuesday morning, both Spain and Portugal reported power supplies almost back to normal with the network stabilised after the largest power cut in Europe’s recent history.
On Monday night, many went to bed in darkness, while others posted videos online celebrating the gradual return of power after many hours off-grid.
But for a continent so willing to talk up its efforts on energy security – with many leaders attending a high-level summit on this only last week – there will be many persistent questions that need urgent answers.
How do you so easily get a blackout affecting some 60 million people? What caused it? And, crucially, can it be prevented from happening at this – or larger – scale ever again?
Many will also study the mis- and disinformation on the causes or the culprits behind the blackout that managed to get traction during the blackout, with both Spanish and Portuguese governments forced to issue direct warning against speculations and reports online.
Despite the energy back on this morning, the disruption is likely to remain for a bit longer, as trains and planes are out of position and other processes are disrupted.
I will bring you all the latest.
It’s Tuesday, 29 April 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
Key events Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature
Portuguese media are reporting that the Lisbon Metro was still down earlier today as the country reels off yesterday’s blackout.
Service is expected to be gradually resuming throughout the morning with first lines expected to be back up by now, but the status update monitoring tool on their website does not seem to be working.
Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez said this morning that 99.95% of energy demand has been restored in Spain, with 100% of substations back operational, as he headed for another meeting of the national security council.
“Thank you to all citizens for once again being an example of responsibility and civic spirit,” he said.
The Portuguese government is also expected to meet later this morning. It earlier issues a short social media update confirming the return of largely normal operations.
Morning opening: How did it happen?
Jakub Krupa
Lights flickered back to life across most of Spain and Portugal after a massive blackout hit the Iberian peninsula, stranding passengers in trains and elevators while millions lost phone and internet coverage.
As of Tuesday morning, both Spain and Portugal reported power supplies almost back to normal with the network stabilised after the largest power cut in Europe’s recent history.
On Monday night, many went to bed in darkness, while others posted videos online celebrating the gradual return of power after many hours off-grid.
But for a continent so willing to talk up its efforts on energy security – with many leaders attending a high-level summit on this only last week – there will be many persistent questions that need urgent answers.
How do you so easily get a blackout affecting some 60 million people? What caused it? And, crucially, can it be prevented from happening at this – or larger – scale ever again?
Many will also study the mis- and disinformation on the causes or the culprits behind the blackout that managed to get traction during the blackout, with both Spanish and Portuguese governments forced to issue direct warning against speculations and reports online.
Despite the energy back on this morning, the disruption is likely to remain for a bit longer, as trains and planes are out of position and other processes are disrupted.
I will bring you all the latest.
It’s Tuesday, 29 April 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
