Spain reveals cause of massive blackout that cancelled flights and left 80,000 stranded
The outage, which left tens of millions without power, was triggered by a chain reaction of small grid failures concentrated in southern Spain, according to Spain's Ecological Transition Minister Sara Aagesen.
Speaking at a press conference, Ms Aagesen ruled out the possibility of a cyberattack.
She cited "the poor planning" by grid operators as a contributing factor, as they failed to find a replacement for a power plant intended to balance power fluctuations.
The blackout on 28 April began shortly after 12.30pm and lasted through the evening, disrupting businesses, transit systems, cellular networks, internet connectivity, and other critical infrastructure.
Within five seconds, Spain lost 15gigawatts of electricity, approximately 60 per cent of its supply. Portugal, connected to Spain's grid, also experienced a blackout, while island territories were unaffected.
About 500 flights were cancelled, affecting 80,000 passengers, and many travellers slept in train stations as they were unable to get home.
Power was fully restored by the early hours of the following day.
The government report included analysts from Spain's national security agencies, which concluded, according to the minister, there were no indications of cyber-sabotage by foreign actors.
The only solid information made public shortly after the system went down came from Spain's grid operator Red Eléctrica, which had narrowed down the source of the outage to two separate incidents in southern Spain where substations had failed.
In the weeks following the blackout, citizens and experts were left wondering what triggered the event in a region not known for power outages and igniting a fierce debate about whether Spain's high levels of renewable power had something to do with the grid failing.
Spain is at the forefront of Europe's transition to renewable energy, having generated nearly 57 per cent of its electricity in 2024 from renewable energy sources like wind, hydropower and solar. The country is also phasing out its nuclear plants.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez pushed back against such speculation and defended renewables.
He asked for patience and said that his government would not 'deviate a single millimetre' from its energy transition plans, which include a goal of generating 81 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030.
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