Power outage causes chaos in Spain and Portugal

Massive power cuts hit large parts of Spain and Portugal on Monday, causing widespread distribution and interruptions.

The interruption left millions of people without electricity, while the internet and telephone networks were also reduced.

Trains were canceled and evacuated to some regions, and traffic lights stopped working as delays installed at airports.

With shops, homes and restaurants were immersed in darkness – and some people remained in elevators – the Spanish electric network said until mid -afternoon that power recovery could take several hours.

Spain’s political leaders said the reason for the interruption was still unknown, but there was no indication of a cyber attack.

The first interruption reports It started around noon (10:00 GMT) on Monday and its impact quickly escalates.

As the scale of the interruption became clear, the residents of Madrid were warned to remain placed, to keep outside the roads and not to call emergency services, unless they were “really urgent”.

The Spanish operator said the power recovery would take up to 10 hours, while Portugal’s energy company Ren said that it could take up to a week.

The queues formed on cash machines because card payments were affected by the interruption and there were reports that some gas stations were closed.

Spanish media reported that some hospitals have completed emergency plans, including stopping routine work, news agencies said.

By the early evening and after a few hours of eclipses, residents in some parts of the country reported that the lights were turned on again.

The power is being restored “in several areas to the north, south and west of the (Iberian) peninsula,” said the Spanish operator of the network.

Authorities in Spain and Portugal are still trying to understand what caused the power cut.

“At that moment there are no indications of a cyberattack,” said European Council President Antonio Costa.

As the panic spread earlier during the day, the residents of Madrid were warned to stay outside the roads.

In a video on social media, the mayor of the Spanish capital Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida told residents to “maintain their movements to an absolute minimum and, if possible, to stay where they are. We want to keep all the ways clear.”

People should only call emergency services if it is “really urgent,” he said.

“If emergency calls are left unanswered, go to the police and fire stations where they will try to deal with all emergencies.”

The country’s nuclear power plants automatically stopped at the impact of the eclipse, and the Spanish oil company Moeve said it had stopped the operations of its oil refineries.

The flights were also affected, with delays and cancellation of some airports. EasyJet said he was experiencing some interference with surgery in Lisbon and Madrid. It says the situation was “liquid” and told the clients to check the local advice.

The Aviation Data Company Cirium said 96 flights departing from Portugal – and 45 from Spain – were canceled.

The business is heavily affected. Some branches of IKEA in Spain have switched to reserve generators and stopped customers from entering its stores.

Madrid Open tennis organizers decided to cancel the event on Monday.

Elsewhere, Andorra and parts of France were also hit, but the Balearic and Canary Islands were not affected.