Spanish distributor says restoring power after huge outage could take 6-10 hours, Portugal also hit
Barcelona, Apr 28 (AP): Spanish power distributor Red Eléctrica said that restoring power to large parts of the country after a massive and unprecedented outage Monday that also hit Portugal could take 6-10 hours.
The company declined to speculate on the causes of the blackout. The Portuguese National Cybersecurity Center issued a statement saying there was no sign the outage was due to a cyberattack.
Eduardo Prieto, head of operations at Red Electrica, told journalists it was unprecedented, calling the event “exceptional and extraordinary.”
The outage hit across Spain and Portugal, including their capitals, knocking out subway networks, phone lines, traffic lights and ATM machines.
Authorities said the cause was not immediately known, though one Portuguese official said the problem appeared to be with the electricity distribution network in Spain.
The Portuguese Cabinet convened an emergency meeting at the prime minister's residence, and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited power distributor Red Eléctrica to follow efforts at restoring grid operations.
The countries have a combined population of over 50 million people. It was not immediately clear how many were affected. It is rare to have such a widespread outage across the Iberian Peninsula.
A couple of hours later, Spain's electricity network operator said it was recovering power in the north and south of the peninsula, which would help to progressively restore the electricity supply nationwide.
Portugal's government said the outage appeared to stem from problems outside the country, an official told national news agency Lusa.
“It looks like it was a problem with the distribution network, apparently in Spain. It's still being ascertained,” Cabinet Minister Leitão Amaro was quoted as saying.
Portuguese distributor E-Redes said the outage was due to “a problem with the European electricity system,” according to Portuguese newspaper Expresso. The company said it was compelled to cut power in specific areas to stabilise the network, according to Expresso.
Spain's public broadcaster RTVE said a major power outage hit several regions of the country just after midday local time, leaving its newsroom, Spain's parliament in Madrid and subway stations across the country in the dark.
A graph on Spain's electricity network website showing demand across the country indicated a steep drop around 12.15 pm from 27,500MW to near 15,000MW.
Video aired on Spanish television showed people evacuating metro stations in Madrid and empty stations with trains stopped in Barcelona.
Play at the Madrid Open tennis tournament was suspended. Three matches were underway when power went down.
Spain's traffic department asked citizens to avoid using their cars as much as possible due to the power outage, which has affected traffic lights and electrical road signage.
In Terrassa, an industrial town 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Barcelona, stores selling generators were out of stock after people lined up to buy them.
Portugal's E-Redes said parts of France also were affected.
In a country of some 10.6 million people, the outage hit the capital, Lisbon, and surrounding areas, as well as northern and southern parts. Portuguese police placed more officers on duty to direct traffic and cope with increased requests for help, including from people trapped in elevators.
Portuguese hospitals and other emergency services switched to generators. Gas stations stopped working and trains stopped running.
Portugal's National Authority for Emergencies and Civil Protection said backup power systems were operating.
Several Lisbon subway cars were evacuated, reports said. Also in Portugal, courts stopped work and ATMs and electronic payment systems were affected. Traffic lights in Lisbon stopped working.
It was not possible to make calls on mobile phone networks, though some apps were working.
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Andhra to be developed as knowledge, creator economy hub: CM Naidu
New Delhi/Amaravati (PTI): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday said the state is taking steps to transform itself into a knowledge and creator economy hub with a strong focus on artificial intelligence and quantum technology.
He noted that Andhra Pradesh has abundant tech-driven youth and the government is formulating plans to train them in futuristic technologies with support from global technology firms.
"Our goal is to transform Andhra Pradesh into a knowledge hub by focusing on AI, quantum computing, data centres, drone cities and space cities. The youth will remain our biggest asset over the next 25 years, and we seek global partnerships to scale up the creator economy," said Naidu during his interactions at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in Delhi.
Naidu, who participated in the summit in the national capital, also held meetings with several global technology leaders and industrialists to explore collaborations in artificial intelligence, clean energy and innovation ecosystems.
He met Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, Autodesk AI Head Mike Haley, Aramco India Director Abdul Rehman AiThukair, LEGO Education Vice President Tom Hall, Aadhaar Founder and CTO Srikanth Nadhamuni, Khosla Ventures Managing Partner Vinod Khosla and others at the AP Pavilion.
The chief minister also held discussions with Saudi Aramco representatives on clean energy projects, including solar initiatives, and invited the company to expand operations in Andhra Pradesh, stating that the state is highly suitable for green energy production.
He sought support from NVIDIA Vice President Callista Redmond for establishing AI Living Labs and proposed partnerships through the Ratan Tata Innovation Hub to promote youth innovation, including collaborations with IIT Tirupati and Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Tirupati under the Andhra Pradesh Future Innovation and Research for Science and Technology (AP FIRST) initiative.
Naidu urged Autodesk leadership to support the development of Global Capability Centres in design engineering and requested the establishment of an Innovation Academy in Amaravati aligned with quantum technology, besides proposing AI and robotics learning labs in partnership with LEGO Education.
He also discussed AI-driven smart governance solutions with Quantela Inc Chairman Sridhar Gadhi, while World Bank Group Digital AI Regional Director Mahesh Uttamchandani met Naidu on the sidelines of the summit.
Following the meetings, Naidu visited various exhibition stalls at the summit, including those of NVIDIA, Tata, Intel and Microsoft, and reviewed AI applications across agriculture, healthcare and industry.
