I’ve seen a few stories about this today, and in the interest of gaining a more comprehensive view, I asked Grok, “What can you tell me about the power outages in Europe today?” Surely there will be some interesting things to say about this in the coming days…
Grok: On April 28, 2025, a major power outage struck southern Europe, primarily affecting Spain, Portugal, Andorra, and parts of southern France.
The blackout began around 12:33 p.m. CEST, caused by a significant disruption in the European electricity grid, with reports pointing to a “strong oscillation” in the network, possibly originating from faults in high-voltage lines. The exact cause remains unclear, though authorities, including the European Council president António Costa, have stated there’s no evidence of a cyberattack.
Portugal’s grid operator, REN, suggested a “rare atmospheric phenomenon” involving extreme temperature variations might have triggered “anomalous oscillations” in Spain’s grid, but this claim has been debated, with some dismissing it as unverified.
The outage paralyzed critical infrastructure:
Portugal: The Lisbon Metro, trains, and traffic lights stopped, mobile networks faced severe limitations, and Lisbon Airport closed around 1:00 p.m. Hospitals relied on generators, and Fertagus trains halted at stations. E-Redes noted the failure likely originated outside Portugal.
Spain: Nationwide, electricity consumption dropped by 50% at 12:30 p.m. Madrid’s metro and train systems shut down, stranding passengers, and Barajas Airport operated at reduced capacity. Nuclear power plants were automatically taken offline for safety. The Madrid Open tennis tournament suspended play, and ATMs and electronic banking faced disruptions, though backup systems kept core banking functional.
France: Brief outages hit the Basque Country and southwestern areas, but power was restored quickly, with RTE supplementing power to northern Spain.
Andorra: Experienced a seconds-long outage, with its grid automatically switching to France’s.
Both Spain and Portugal declared states of emergency, with Spain’s Interior Ministry applying emergency measures in regions like Madrid, Andalusia, and Extremadura. By Monday evening, power restoration progressed:
Spain’s Red Eléctrica restored over 50% of demand (13,000 MW) and 73% of substations, while Portugal’s REN reconnected 2.5 million customers, including key areas in Lisbon and Porto. However, full restoration was estimated to take 6–10 hours in Spain, with Portugal warning of potential delays up to a week for complete grid normalization.
The outage disrupted daily life, halting public transport, causing traffic chaos, and forcing businesses like supermarkets and cafes to face losses from spoiled goods. Hospitals managed with generators, but some canceled non-emergency surgeries.
Social media posts reflected public frustration, with some X users exaggerating the outage’s scope to include Germany, Italy, or Greece, though these claims were debunked, confirming only Spain, Portugal, and parts of France were significantly affected.
This was one of Europe’s worst blackouts in years, comparable to Italy’s 2003 outage or Germany’s 2006 grid failure. Authorities continue investigating, with no conclusive cause yet identified.