
Power restored after massive blackout hits Spain, Portugal, France
"Tension has now been restored in substations in several areas of the north, south and west of the peninsula, beginning to give supply to consumers in these areas," Red Electrica said in a statement.
Earlier, electricity was cut off across Spain and Portugal and part of southern France on Monday in a massive blackout that impacted millions of people, grid operators said.
The cause for the outage was not immediately identified. It will take "six to 10 hours" to restore power in Spain, the state grid operator said.
"We are looking at between six and 10 hours, if all goes well," Eduardo Prieto, head of Red Electrica, told Cadena Sur radio, adding that several parts of the network "are already repaired" and saying it was impossible "to speculate on the cause for the moment".
Spain's state electricity network operator Red Electrica said on X said it had managed to restore power in the north and south of the country. Portugal's REN operator said all the Iberian peninsula was affected, as well as part of France.
Power was restored in southwestern France after a blackout on Monday that also hit Spain and Portugal, French high-voltage grid operator RTE said, adding it remained unclear what caused the outage.
"An electrical incident is currently affecting Spain and Portugal, the cause of which remains to be determined," RTE said, describing the blackout as a "major outage" in the Iberian peninsula.
"In France, homes were without power for several minutes in the Basque Country. All power has since been restored," it said, referring to the region in France's extreme southwestern corner on the border with Spain.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Gulf Today
05-07-2025
- Gulf Today
Happy swimmers cool off in Paris' Seine river after 100-year ban lifted
The River Seine reopened to swimmers in Paris on Saturday morning, marking the first time since 1923 that bathers could take a dip in the iconic waterway following a years-long cleanup effort. The swimming spots are open to the public for free until August 31. The opening comes after the French capital during the week endured a major heatwave that also hit other parts of Europe and saw Paris put on the weather agency's highest alert level. A few dozen people of all ages arrived ahead of the 8:00 am (0600 GMT) opening of the Bras Marie swimming zone – one of three open in Paris this summer – donning swim caps and goggles as they prepared to dive in and celebrate the long-awaited return of bathing in the Seine. "I thought it would be freezing cold but it's actually great," said Karine, 51, a care worker from southeast of Paris, and one of the first to jump in. The seasonal opening of the Seine for swimming is seen as a key legacy of the Paris 2024 Olympics, when open-water swimmers and triathletes competed in its waters which were specially cleaned for the event. A Police Municipale officer looks on as people swim at the Bercy safe bathing site on the Seine river. AFP "It's a childhood dream to have people swimming in the Seine," said Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo, who visited the site in the city's historic centre near the Ile Saint-Louis. "Look at how happy everyone is," she said with a smile. Cooling off Parisians and visitors looking to cool off this summer can take the plunge – weather permitting – under the watchful eye of lifeguards in fluorescent yellow T-shirts at the three bathing sites, including one a stone's throw from the Eiffel Tower. The swimming zones are equipped with changing rooms, showers, and beach-style furniture, offering space for 150 to 300 people to relax, lay out their towels, and unwind from the city's hustle and bustle. Paris officials say they have taken several measures to ensure swimmers can safely enjoy the long-anticipated reopening, including daily water pollution testing and implementing a swim test for bathers. "The water quality is "exceptional", said Marc Guillaume, the prefect for the Ile-de France region that includes Paris. A swimmer jumps in the water at the Grenelle safe bathing site. AFP "We are monitoring two bacteria, E. coli and enterococci, and for one we are ten times below the thresholds and for the other more than 25 times below," he said. But risks remain... But officials reminded swimmers of potential dangers, including strong currents, boat traffic, and an average depth of 3.5 metres (11 feet). "The Seine remains a dangerous environment," said local official Elise Lavielle earlier this week. To mitigate that risk, lifeguards will assess visitors' swimming abilities before allowing independent access, while a decree issued in late June introduced fines for anyone swimming outside designated areas. The promise to lift the swimming ban dates back to 1988, when then-mayor of Paris and future president Jacques Chirac first advocated its reversal, around 65 years after the practice was banned in 1923. 'More peaceful life' "One of my predecessors (Chirac), then mayor of Paris, dreamed of a Seine where everyone could swim," President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X, describing the move as the result of a "collective effort" and a moment of "pride" for France. Ahead of the Olympic Games, authorities invested approximately 1.4 billion euros ($1.6 billion) to improve the Seine's water quality. Since then, work carried out upstream promises even better water quality – with one catch. People swim in the River Seine at the Bras Marie site in Paris on Sautrday. Reuters On rainy days, the mid-19th-century Parisian sewage system often overflows, causing rain and waste waters to pour into the river. Flags will inform bathers about pollution levels in the water every day, and if it rains, the sites will likely close the day after, said Paris city official Pierre Rabadan. Swimmers may be in luck this year, though, with weather predicted to be drier than the record rainfall during the Games, which led to the cancellation of six of the 11 competitions held on the river. Hidalgo, who took the inaugural swim last year, said that cleaning up the Seine for the Olympics was not the final goal but part of a broader effort to adapt the city to climate change and enhance quality of life. "Heatwaves are only going to increase", the Paris mayor said, adding creating safe swim spaces will foster a "happier, and undoubtedly more peaceful life with our fellow citizens". One of the swimmers on Saturday expressed gratitude for the Seine's re-opening. "Thank you, Ms. Hidalgo. This is so cool," the bather shouted from the water.


Al Etihad
01-07-2025
- Al Etihad
Child dies as heat records broken in Spain and Portugal
MADRID (AFP) A two-year-old child died in northeast Spain on Tuesday after being left in a car for several hours during a heatwave that has pounded the country and neighbouring Portugal. Governmental Emergency Services in Valls, in the Tarragona region, were alerted in the early afternoon but were unable to resuscitate the child, a police spokesperson told AFP. "Everything seems to indicate that it was negligence on the father's part. The child spent the entire morning in a locked car under the sun," they added. "It was heatstroke. Even an adult would have died." Temperatures in Valls reached up to 32 degrees Celsius in the shade on Tuesday morning, according to the national meteorological agency Aemet. Spain has been hit for several days by intense heat that has spread across the Iberian peninsula to France, Italy, the Balkans and Greece, triggering health warnings and alerts over the risk of forest fires. Several areas of the country have seen the thermometer rise to well above 40 °C and record highs for June. Aemet said earlier on Tuesday that Spain had had its hottest June on record, with an average temperature of 23.6°C - beating the previous high of 22.8°C set in 2017. On Saturday, two road workers died of suspected heatstroke in Cordoba, in the south, and Barcelona, in the northeast. In Portugal, the country recorded its highest-ever single-day temperature in June - 46.4°C - on Sunday in Mora, some 100 kilometres east of the capital, Lisbon. The previous June high was 44.9 °C in the southwestern town of Alcacer do Sal in 2017, the IMPA weather agency said. Some 37 per cent of IPMA monitoring stations recorded temperatures higher than 40 °C on Sunday, it added. A number of regions, including around the capital, were put on red alert on Sunday and Monday. Eight Portuguese inland regions remained on the second-highest alert with the highest risk of forest fires, especially woodland areas in the centre and north of the country. Human-induced climate change is being blamed for stoking hotter and more intense heatwaves, particularly in cities, where tightly packed buildings amplify temperatures.

Gulf Today
01-07-2025
- Gulf Today
No relief as scorching temperatures grip Europe, putting regions on high alert
Forest fires fanned by high winds and hot, dry weather damaged some holiday homes in Turkey as a lingering heatwave that has cooked much of Europe led authorities to raise warnings and tourists to find ways to beat the heat on Monday. A heat dome hovered over an arc from France, Portugal and Spain to Turkey, while data from European forecasters suggested other countries were set to broil further in coming days. New highs are expected on Wednesday before rain is forecast to bring respite to some areas later this week. Women cool off in a public fountain during the first summer heatwave in Seville, Spain, on Monday. Reuters "Extreme heat is no longer a rare event — it has become the new normal,' tweeted U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres from Seville, Spain, where temperatures were expected to hit 42˚C on Monday afternoon. Reiterating his frequent calls for action to fight climate change, Guterres added: "The planet is getting hotter & more dangerous — no country is immune.' Beachgoers play in water on the shores of Lake Issyk Kul in Cholpon-Ata, some 250km from Bishkek. AFP In Portugal — his home country — one reading on Sunday turned up a suspected record-high June temperature of 46.6˚C in Mora, about 100 kilometres east of Lisbon. Weather officials were working to confirm whether that marked a new record. Portuguese authorities issued a red heat warning Monday for seven of 18 districts as temperatures were forecast to hit 43˚C . People visit the beach amid warm weather as temperatures continue to rise across the region, in Brighton, Britain. Reuters The first heatwave of the year has gripped Spain since the weekend and no relief is expected until Thursday, Spain's national weather service said Monday. The country appeared to hit a new high for June on Saturday when 46˚C was tallied in the southern province of Huelva. In France, which was almost entirely sweltering in the heatwave on Monday and where air conditioning remains relatively rare, local and national authorities were taking extra effort to care for homeless and elderly people and people working outside. Tourists stand in front of a cooling fan installed outside the Colosseum in during the heatwave in Rome. Reuters Some tourists were putting off plans for some rigorous outdoor activities. "We were going to do a bike tour today actually, but we decided because it was gonna be so warm not to do the bike tour," said Andrea Tyson, 46, who was visiting Paris from New Philadelphia, Ohio, on Sunday. Misting stations doused passers-by along the Seine in the French capital. A steward fans spectators sitting on Centre Court on day one of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, on Mondayd. AP France's first significant forest fires of the season consumed 400 hectares (988 acres) of woods Sunday and Monday in the Aude region in the south. Water-dumping planes and some 300 firefighters were mobilized, the regional emergency service said. Tourists were evacuated from one campground in the area. A helicopter sprays water to extinguish a fire in Seferihisar, near Izmir, Turkey, on Monday. AP In Turkey, forest fires fanned by strong winds damaged some holiday homes in Izmir's Doganbey region and forced the temporary closure of the airport in Izmir, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Authorities evacuated four villages as a precaution, the Forestry Ministry said. People cool off at a beach during a heatwave in Rabat. AFP In Italy, the Health Ministry put 21 cities under its level three "red' alert, which indicates "emergency conditions with possible negative effects' on healthy, active people as well as at-risk old people, children and chronically ill people. Regional governments in northwestern Liguria and southern Sicily in Italy put restrictions on outdoor work, such as construction and agricultural labor, during the peak heat hours. The mercury was rising farther north, too. Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus uses an ice pack to cool during her match against Carson Branstine of Canada at their first round women's single match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London. AP Britain's national weather service, the Met Office, said the Wimbledon Championships were facing what could be their hottest start on record — with temperatures of just under 30˚C recorded at the nearby Kew Gardens. Tennis enthusiasts fanned themselves or sought shade from the blazing sun as the first day of matches got underway at the All England Club on Monday. Tournament rules allow players to take a 10-minute break when the heat hits 30.1 degrees Celsius or more in mid-match. In southern Germany, temperatures of up to 35˚C were expected on Monday, and they were forecast to creep higher until midweek — going as high as 39˚C on Wednesday. Some German towns and regions imposed limits on how much water can be taken from rivers and lakes. Associated Press