Denmark: Siltanews – News Desk
A total of 45 flights have been canceled across Spain, with the greatest disruptions reported at Barcelona and Madrid airports including France, Egypt, United States, Belgium, Denmark, and England Cities. While partial restoration of power has taken place, the exact cause of the outage remains unknown. According to the head of Spain’s electricity grid, full restoration could take “between six and ten hours,” as stated on Monday afternoon.
The massive power outage that struck Spain on Monday caused widespread disruption across the country, with impacts felt shortly after midday local time. Although many regions were affected, some areas managed to fare better than others. Notably, Spain’s beloved tourist hotspots — the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands — experienced less severe consequences compared to mainland cities.
Local authorities in the Balearic and Canary Islands reported that while brief power fluctuations and localized outages occurred, overall infrastructure resilience allowed essential services to continue operating without major breakdowns. In contrast, cities on the Spanish mainland, particularly Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, and Seville, were significantly affected, plunging millions of residents and visitors into chaos as public services came to a halt.
As the blackout deepened, the country’s public transportation systems were among the first sectors to experience critical disruption. Train operators were forced to cancel numerous services, stranding thousands of passengers at stations without access to updates due to failed communication systems. In Madrid, the situation grew particularly dire as traffic lights throughout the city stopped functioning, leading to heightened safety risks at intersections and major thoroughfares.
Recognizing the mounting danger, the Mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, issued an urgent appeal to residents. He called on the public to limit their movement and keep the city’s roads clear, especially as several highway tunnels were closed off to prevent accidents in the absence of functioning lighting and traffic control systems. Emergency services, meanwhile, were stretched thin, balancing priorities between traffic management, aiding stranded commuters, and attending to an increased volume of emergency calls.
Spain’s transportation chaos was mirrored in neighboring Portugal, where Lisbon, the capital city, witnessed severe flight disruptions. Aviation analytics company Cirium reported that Lisbon Airport experienced the highest rate of departure cancellations across the country by Monday evening, with approximately 29.6% of scheduled departures canceled. Airports in Porto and Faro also reported delays, but Lisbon bore the brunt of the outage’s aviation-related fallout.
In addition to local flights being canceled, international routes were heavily impacted. A total of nine flights originating from the United Kingdom and bound for various airports in Portugal were grounded as a result of the power instability. British holidaymakers hoping to enjoy springtime vacations in Portuguese resorts found themselves stuck at departure terminals or mid-journey, facing hours of uncertainty as airlines scrambled to reorganize flights.
The blackout’s cascading effects revealed the fragile interdependence between transportation, energy, and tourism infrastructures across the Iberian Peninsula. Rail operators were unable to offer alternative services, airlines faced massive logistical hurdles, and local governments struggled to provide clear information in real-time due to compromised communication networks.