About 50 percent of of Spain’s power is restored, the country’s REE electricity operator said late 28 April. This happened after Spain has declared a state of emergency after a mass power blackout paralyzed most of the Iberian Peninsula.
The unprecedented outages across Spain, Portugal and parts of southern France affected the daily lives of millions, grounding flights, halting trains and leaving whole cities without electricity or telecommunications.
Spain’s interior ministry said the emergency status will be applied in the regions that request it. So far, Madrid, Andalusia and Extremadura have asked for the central government to take over public order and other functions.
Pedro Sanchez, Spain’s prime minister, said the cause of the blackout was still unknown and called on citizens to avoid travel, use mobile phones sparingly and "to act with responsibility and civility".
The president of Madrid’s regional government had earlier requested that the army be deployed to the region to maintain order, but the request has so far not been answered.
Sanchez promised to restore power nationwide "soon" with help from Morocco and France.
In Portugal, Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said that power would be fully restored later tonight. He said all the state services remained operating in the country despite the difficulties.
Portuguese grid operator REN said one possible cause for the blackout may be a "very large oscillation in the electrical voltages" that started in Spain’s grid and spread to Portugal’s system.