Country Impacted: Spain and Portugal
What Happened?
On 28 April 2025, a large-scale power outage swept across Spain and Portugal, severely impacting critical infrastructure and essential services. The disruption began at approximately 1200 GMT and caused operational breakdowns in airports, metro systems, telecommunications networks, and traffic control systems across major urban centres. Preliminary reports attributed the outage to failures within the European electric grid, with contributing factors still under investigation.
Business Impact
The blackout has had widespread economic and operational ramifications, especially for sectors dependent on continuity, mobility, and communication:
- Aviation: Madrid-Barajas and Lisbon Airports experienced service outages, resulting in delays, ground operations disruptions, and logistical backlogs. Airlines faced cascading impacts due to rerouted or stranded flights, potentially triggering supply chain dislocation and passenger compensation costs.
- Urban Mobility: Metro services in Madrid and Valencia were suspended, stranding thousands during peak hours. Increased road congestion and failure of traffic signals elevated the risk of accidents and delivery delays in urban logistics networks.
- Telecommunications: Temporary failure of cellular and internet services hampered communication between critical services and businesses. This could affect sectors like finance, emergency response, IT services, and remote operations.
- Infrastructure Reliability: Elevator stoppages, traffic light failures, and building management system downtimes led to short-term evacuation issues and building access disruptions.
- Portugal-Wide Impact: The blackout extended across Portugal, intensifying the cross-border nature of this infrastructure vulnerability, and raising concerns for multinational firms and logistics corridors operating across Iberia.
Underlying Causes Being Explored
Investigations are ongoing, with three primary lines of inquiry:
- European Grid Instability: OSINT reports suggest a failure in transmission stability across the EU electric grid, possibly triggered by load fluctuations.
- Physical Infrastructure Damage: A fire on Alaric Mountain (Southern France) damaged a major high-voltage transmission line, potentially contributing to the cascading failure.
- Cybersecurity Concerns: Though unconfirmed, speculative reports suggest a possible cyberattack on energy infrastructure. Spain’s Cybersecurity Coordination Office has launched a formal probe into this angle, reflecting the increasing intersection of physical and cyber threats.
Outlook and Recommendations
- Recovery Status: Emergency protocols by Red Eléctrica (REE) are underway. As of Tuesday morning, power has been restored to 90% of mainland Spain, primarily using hydroelectric reserves. However, nuclear and gas plants are slower to resume full operations, raising concerns about energy grid resilience.
- Risk for Businesses:
Businesses with operations in Iberia should:
- Review business continuity plans related to grid failure and communication loss.
- Assess the exposure of supply chains, warehouses, and retail outlets to power instability.
- Engage with local crisis management agencies and monitor REE updates.
- Consider cyber-resilience audits for energy-connected operational tech, given the possible cyberattack speculation.
