Spanish electricity distributor Red Eléctrica said it would take six to 10 hours to restore power to much of the country after a massive and unprecedented disruption on Monday.
The company refused to speculate on the cause of the power outage. The National Cybersecurity Centre in Portugal issued a statement saying there was no sign of it being caused by a cyber attack.
Eduardo Prieto, head of operations at Red Electrica, told reporters that this was unprecedented, calling the event “excellent but extraordinary”.
Disruptions in Spain and Portugal, including its capital, eliminated subway networks, telephone lines, traffic lights and ATMs.
The match was suspended in the Madrid Open tennis match. ATP Men's Tour says two singles matches and one doubles match are in progress when Power Out Out Power Out
Authorities said the reason was not immediately known.
The Portuguese cabinet held an emergency meeting at the Prime Minister's residence, and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez visited the electricity distributor Red Electrica to follow efforts to restore grid operations.
The total population of these countries exceeds 50 million. It is not clear how many affected are.
Such widespread disruptions are rare on the Iberian Peninsula. Hong Electric said the incident is being evaluated.
A few hours later, Spain's power network operator said it was reclaiming electricity in the northern and southern peninsula, which would help to gradually restore power supply across the country.
Portuguese newspaper Expresso said Portuguese distributor E-REDES said the power outage was due to “an issue with European power systems.” According to Expresso, the company said it was forced to cut power in specific areas to stabilize the network.
Spain's public broadcaster RTVE said that after noon local time, a massive power outage hit several parts of the country, its newsroom, Spain's parliament in Madrid and subway stations across the country were in the dark.
People are eager to buy generators
A chart displayed on the Spanish Electric Power website shows a sharp drop from 27,500 MW to nearly 15,000 MWh local time around 12:15 pm local time.
Videos aired on Spanish TV show people evacuated the metro station in Madrid and stopped trains in Barcelona.
Spain's transportation department requires citizens to avoid using as many of their cars as possible due to power outages, which affects traffic lights and electrical signposts.
In Terrassa, an industrial town 50 kilometers away from Barcelona, shops selling generators were out of power after people lined up to buy.
Portugal's E-Redes said parts of France were also affected by the southwestern border with Spain.
In Portugal, a country with 10.6 million people, disruption hit the capital, Lisbon and surrounding areas, as well as the north and south of the country. The Portuguese police have put more and more officials in charge of directing traffic and coping with more requests for help, including those trapped in the elevator.
Portuguese hospitals and other emergency services turn to generators. The gas station stopped working and the train stopped running.
The Portuguese National Emergency and Civil Protection Agency said the backup power system is in operation.
The report said several Lisbon metro vehicles were evacuated. Also in Portugal, the courts stopped working and ATMs and electronic payment systems were affected. Traffic lights in Lisbon stopped working.
Although some apps are working, it is impossible to make calls on the mobile network.
