"No indications" that cyber attack caused blackout in Spain and Portugal, says EU

Spain and Portugal suffered a major blackout on Monday. But there is no indication that the power outage is a result of a cyber attack, European Council president Antonio Costa said on Monday.

Spain, Portugal and part of France suffered a widespread blackout on Monday. At around 12.30pm, power went out, causing widespread disruption to public transport, airports and many other services. In some places the outage lasted a few minutes, while in others there is still no electricity.

The blackout was not caused by any kind of attack, says Costa. "Grid operators in both countries are working to find the cause and restore power. At this stage, there is no evidence of a cyber attack," the Portuguese politician wrote on X.

Portuguese grid operator REN said the blackout was due to a "fault" in the Spanish grid. REN claims that extreme temperature fluctuations in inland Spain caused abnormal vibrations in high-voltage cables, resulting in "synchronisation failures between the electrical systems". Spain has not yet responded to these claims.

Grid operator Red Electrica said that it was working to "gradually" restore power to the entire Spanish territory. Power has already been restored to zones in the north, south and west of the country it added. Meanwhile, Portugal's grid operator warned that problems could continue for another week.

^{PHOTO © CESAR MANSO / AFP}