There have been reports of a large number of power outages in Spain and Portugal, including its capital.
Spanish generator Redelectrica said on Monday that the Iberian Peninsula was affected, saying the incident is being evaluated and responded. The company said in a social media post that it began to restore power in the north and south of the country.
There are few such widespread disruptions on the peninsula.
The total population of these countries exceeds 50 million. It is not clear how many people are affected.
Spain’s public broadcaster RTVE said a major power outage hit several parts of the country at around 12:30 p.m. local time, with its newsroom, Spain’s parliament in Madrid and subway stations across the country in the dark.
Armando Franca / AP
Nearby WhatsApp chats in Barcelona and its suburban towns also reported power outages.
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.
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.
E-Redes said parts of France were also affected.
Although some apps are working, it is impossible to make calls on the mobile network.
According to Reuters, Radio Spain reported that part of Madrid was evacuating.
Unconfirmed news reports also said that the Lisbon Metro stopped. Traffic lights in the city center stopped working.
