Power outage in Spain: Electricity restored after chaos

Spain is gradually recovering electricity and normality following the massive blackout that occurred around 12:30 p.m. local time Monday (6:30 a.m. ET).

"More than 99% of the electricity supply has already been restored after the massive blackout that affected the Iberian Peninsula," announced grid operator REE on Tuesday morning.

At around 6 a.m. local time (12 a.m. ET), 99.16% of the electricity supply was recovered, with an output of 21.26 megawatts, REE reported.

In Spain, the return of electricity allowed rail traffic to resume on several major routes, including the busy Madrid-Barcelona and Madrid-Sevilla corridors, the national train company, Renfe, reported.

However, service remains suspended on other major lines, as authorities have prioritized the restoration of suburban routes.

According to Transport Minister Óscar Puente, three trains were still blocked Tuesday morning.

In a late-night appearance from Moncloa Palace, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, admitted that the causes of the massive blackout were not yet known, and that "no hypothesis" could be ruled out.

Power restored in Portugal

The power grid in Portugal was "perfectly" stabilized Tuesday morning after the massive blackout, local operator REN reported.

"All the substations of the national transmission network were restored" and "we can affirm that the network is perfectly stabilized," a REN spokesman told AFP.

Cyberattack ruled out as cause of blackout in the Iberian Peninsula

The operator of the Spanish electricity grid ruled out Tuesday that a cyberattack was behind the massive blackout that the Iberian Peninsula suffered for several hours on Monday.

"We can rule out a cybersecurity incident," Eduardo Prieto, director of Red Eléctrica Española, told a press conference, adding that on Tuesday morning "we have been able to conclude that there has indeed been no intrusion of any kind in the power grid control systems that could have caused the incident."

According to the state-owned company's version, the first preliminary reports speak of a generation failure in the southwest region that caused the failure of the electric system.

Justice investigates whether the blackout was the result of "computer sabotage"

Although Red Eléctrica Española ruled out a cyber-attack, favoring the hypothesis of a generation failure, the Audiencia Nacional, a specialized Spanish court, announced on Tuesday an investigation to determine whether the blackout was the result of "computer sabotage."

In a statement, the court announced that it "has agreed to initiate preliminary proceedings to investigate whether the blackout in the Spanish electricity grid could have been an act of computer sabotage in Spanish critical infrastructures," which would fit the "crime of terrorism."