A massive, multiple-country power outage has caused public transport in Spain, Portugal and Andorra to be disrupted – some reports are calling it chaos. Passengers are being evacuated from trains. a “total blackout” at stations such as Avenida de América, where lights, electrical systems and cell phone coverage failed, triggered emergency lighting and the evacuation of passengers. Traffic lights are also affected causing road travel delays and issues. A metro station in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon can be seen shuttered images on social media. Portuguese police report traffic lights are affected across that country, the metro is closed in capital city Lisbon as well as Porto and trains are not running.
Barajas Airport in Madrid remains without power while the Valencia metro suspended all services. Metrovalencia, which runs metro and tram services in Valencia, said there was disruption due to a “general power outage.”
Spainish national rail operator, Renfe, reported “no single service had been able to leave stations following the outage.”
Parts of Madrid’s underground have been evacuated. Traffic lights in the city are not working, according to local media reports. Many businesses, shops and restaurants lost power and were forced to close or operate piecemeal, offering what they could. Internet service was also out in many areas. The outage began soon shortly after noon Spanish time and has impacted cities across the country.
UK-based airline, EasyJet told passengers to expect delays and that “Spanish airports are currently experiencing ongoing power outages affecting multiple essentials systems and airport infrastructure.” It said the outage was “extraordinary and outside of our control.”
Spanish grid operator Red Eléctrica said it is working with energy companies to restore power. In a statement, the power supplier said “it’s beginning to recover power in the north and south of the country,” and that this is “key to gradually restoring the electricity supply. We continue working to restore power,” it added.