A massive power outage has caused chaos and disruption in Spain, with repercussions also in Portugal and southern France.
After the interruption, problems were recorded in almost every city, in private homes and in commercial establishments and companies, left without electricity and in some cases without internet connection. And again: dark premises, turned off refrigerators, no working ATMs, closed trains and metro, with people stuck in convoys.
Museums also stopped. But the ones that suffered the most from the power outage were transportation. Rail and air traffic were in fact blocked, as were road circulation, public transport and subways.
Flights were grounded at Madrid Barajas and Lisbon airports, while flight cancellations were reported at Barcelona-El Prat. The National Institute of Cybersecurity (Incibe) is investigating whether the widespread blackout was caused by a cyberattack.
Even the Portuguese Minister for Territorial Cohesion does not rule out that the energy blackout that hit the Iberian Peninsula could be due to a cyber attack. "There is this possibility, but it has not been confirmed," Manuel Castro Almeida told RTP, the Portuguese state television. Meanwhile, reports from Lisbon airport are of a chaotic situation with several areas of the airport left in the dark.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said he was “not ruling out any hypothesis” and asked citizens to pay attention only to news spread through “official channels.” Sánchez, quoted by El Pais, said the hydroelectric plants were now operational and was confident that supplies would be restored “soon,” without specifying a timeframe.
Sports have also been called off: all matches that were due to be played today in the Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 in Madrid have been cancelled, with the organisers deciding to cancel the match schedule while waiting for the resumption.
(Online Union)