Major power outages across Spain and Portugal hit transport systems, mobile networks, traffic lights and more – Europe live (2025)

Spanish health ministry said in a social media update that it was in contact with regional authorities to “assess the scope of the widespread blackout,” but sought to reassure the public that “hospitals have supplementary systems” in place.

Spanish airport operator Aena warned of disruptions on its social media account, saying that while contingency power operators are in use, “there may be issues” affecting ground operations.

Air traffic monitoring service Flightradar reported issues in Spain and Portugal related to “widespread electrical outages affecting both countries.”

“We’re not yet seeing widespread cancellations, but we are monitoring the situation as it develops,” they said.

Elsewhere – there’s a lot of news happening today! – Russian president Vladimir Putin has declared a full ceasefire in Ukraine between 8 and 10 May as Russia celebrates the Victory Day over Nazi Germany, AP reported.

“Russia believes that the Ukrainian side should follow this example. In the event of violations of the truce by the Ukrainian side, the Russian armed forces will give an adequate and effective response,” the Kremlin said, in a statement reported by AFP.

But Russia has said it would ensure “an adequate and effective response” in case of ceasefire violations by Ukraine.

Spanish electricity grid operator Red Eléctrica said in a social media update it was “beginning to recover power” in parts of the Iberian Peninsula, but it continued working on the outage.

To give you an idea about the extent of power outages in Spain and Portugal, here’s a quick round up of reported consequences via their national media:

• Barcelona and Seville are among major Spanish cities affected, with Barcelona, Valencia and Madrid metro systems reportedly affected, and disruptions at Madrid’s Barajas Airport, which reports delays in flights (El Mundo, Barajas website).

• Spain’s national railway operator Renfe reported stopping trains as a result of the disruption.

• Widespread disruptions were reported in Portugal, affecting mobile networks, transport services, and airports, as well as traffic lights in Lisbon and Porto (El Pais, Publico).

The exact extent of the outages and the number of people affected are not immediately clear.

This is a developing story.

The Vatican has now confirmed that the conclave to elect a successor to Pope Francis will begin on 7 May.

We are hearing reports from Spain and Portugal about a major disruption to energy supply in the two countries.

Electricity grid operator Red Eléctrica said it has activated plans to restore the supply, with “all resources dedicated to solving” the disruption.

Portuguese media are reporting severe disruptions to telecoms and transport operations.

This is a developing story; we will bring you more as soon as we can.

Elsewhere, in his first visit to Denmark since becoming the Greenlandic PM, Jens-Frederik Nielsen announced over the weekend that Greenland is ready for a “strong partnership” with the US, but warned that Greenland will “never, ever be a piece of property that can be bought”.

The press conference on Sunday – in which the Danish PM, Mette Frederiksen, took a more conciliatory tone than previously, conceding that the Danish kingdom needed to modernise – came amid a flurry of diplomacy between Denmark and Greenland.

Today, Nielsen will visit the Danish King, Frederik, at Amalienborg palace in Copenhagen before flying together to Nuuk where they are due to arrive tonight.

On Tuesday, the King will have a coffee meeting open to the public in Nuuk before later going on a hike and in the evening attending a Greenlandic government dinner. On Wednesday he will visit biology students at Sila before heading to the most northerly staffed station in Greenland with Danish defence minister, Troels Lund Poulsen. On Thursday he will head out with the Sirius dog sled patrol, a unit of the Danish Special Forces Command.

It comes after a tense few months between Copenhagen and Nuuk after Trump’s election to the White House during which he has made repeated threats to gain control of Greenland – a former Danish colony that remains part of the Danish kingdom – and sent his vice-president, JD Vance, to visit the US military base in Greenland, Pituffik, so soon after Greenland’s general election that the government’s new coalition had yet to be formally announced.

Soon after, Frederiksen visited Nuuk for the first time in over a year during which she issued a message to Trump from an inspection ship, saying: “You cannot annex another country.”