A large part of the Iberian Peninsula was affected by a large power failure on Monday. In many places in Spain and Portugal, among others, traffic lights or metro stopped operating. In the evening in some places the situation began to return to normal. Among other things, in Madrid, residents spontaneously began to express their joy from the return of power supply.
Key facts:
- This situation has not yet happened in the history of Spain.
- The problem appeared around 12.30. In the evening, in some places of Spain, the situation began to return to normal, although in other regions the repair will last. About 50 percent of energy supply was restored by the end of the day.
- Portugal also experienced big problems.
- Are you in Spain or Portugal? Did you have the effects of failure? Share your relationship with us, write to contact24@tvn.pl or send SMS/MMS +48516444424.
In connection with the failure throughout Spain There were problems in road traffic, public transport and airports. The Spanish media talked about chaos on the roads – traffic lights and cameras stopped acting throughout the country. ATMs did not operate, and some hospitals began to operate in an emergency mode.
The failure took place around 12.30. The Spanish energy supplier Red Electrica announced that the power restoration could last 6-10 hours. He added that there was never such a vast failure in history. In the evening it was reported that the electricity returned in some parts of the country. In other areas, repair may still take.
“Such a serious crisis has never happened before,” said Eduardo Prieto, a representative of Red Electrica on Monday. The “hours” will take a return to the normal operation of the system – he added. As Prieto stated, the reason for the collapse of electricity supplies on the Iberian Peninsula was the disconnection of the European system of inter -system connections by France. However, he did not want to speculate what led to this.
Shouts of joy
The Spanish radio station Cadena Ser has published a short recording, which shows how residents are happy to restore electricity to Gran Via, the main Madrid street.
“Shouts of joy on the street. This is the return of light on Gran Via in Madrid” – the recording was signed.
“El Pais” writes that in some regions of Madrid, power was restored after more than a nine -hour break. On a short recording you can see how residents enjoy the return of electricity, going out to the balconies and clapping.
Electricity also returned partly in other regions of Spain, including in Catalonia, Valencia and Andalusia. Around 20 o'clock the metro running in the center of Bilbao in the Basque Country was restored. Railway connections and trams also operate. In Catalonia, the suburban railway is to return to normal action on Tuesday. 60 percent of the inhabitants of the region still remain without electricity, and over 7,000 policemen were arranged on the streets
Prime Minister: Suddenly we lost 60 percent of the power
Late in the evening at a press conference, the latest information on the failure was presented by the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. – At 12.33 we lost suddenly, in five seconds 15 GW, or about 60 percent of the power in the system. This has never happened before – he emphasized and added that the authorities do not rule out any script. The daily “El Pais” notes that the scale of the problem can be better understood if you take into account that five nuclear power plants in Spain can produce 7.4 GW.
At present, almost 50 percent of energy supply has been restored – added Sanchez. Shortly after the conference, the national operator of the Red Electrica network announced the restoration of over 50 percent.
Sanchez admitted that it is not known when it will be possible to restore energy supply throughout Spain, but work is underway to make it happen on Tuesday. He also informed that the port traffic was working normally, while on Monday over 340 flights were canceled, and the state railway carrier provided assistance about 35,000 passengers. The government also decided to release part of the strategic reserves of crude oil, corresponding to three days of raw material consumption in the country – added Sanchez. “It will be a long night,” the prime minister concluded, assuring that “citizens can and should be calm”.
Power failure in Spain
Source: PAP/EPA
Source: PAP/EPA
Source: PAP/EPA
Source: PAP/EPA
Source: PAP/EPA
Source: PAP/EPA
Appeal of the Mayor of Madrid
During the day, the mayor of Madrid Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida appealed to the city's residents. – I am asking all Madrid residents to limit their movement to the absolute minimum and – if possible – the others where they are. We want all roads to be passable – he said in a film posted on social media.
He pointed out that not only the traffic lights did not work, but also some tunnels on the highways had to be closed.
The mayor also asked residents to call for emergency services only when it is “really urgent”. – If the alarm connections remain unanswered, go to the police and the fire brigade in person, where they will try to deal with all emergency situations that may appear – he said.
Part of Portugal also without electricity, in France the situation is composed
The problems also affected the parts Portugal. The national police said that there were disturbances in traffic lights, the metro in Lisbon and Porto was closed throughout the country, and the trains did not run. Electricity returned to Lisbon around 10pm of local time (21 in Poland), after nine hours of break. The Portuguese operator of the REN power network announced in the evening that it was possible to restore power supply for 1 million recipients, from a total number of 6.5 million.
In France, the RTE network operator announced that a short power outlet occurred in a part of the country, but the power supply was restored. An investigation into the cause is being investigated.
On Monday, the match for the quarter -finals of the WTA tournament in Madrid was to take place with the participation of Iga Świątekhowever, due to a power output, the organizers translated the start of the match.
Author/author: KK, AKR/FT, kg
Source: Reuters, PAP, BBC, TVN24.pl
Source of the main photo: PAP/EPA/BORJA SANCHEZ-TRILLO