The Government of Spain has established a special commission to discover what the Mass blackout That hit the whole country virtual, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced Tuesday, emphasizing that no possible cause had been ruled out. Hey, also joined the broader European Union to promise that everything necessary would be done to avoid a recurrence of the failure of the electricity grid, which stopped in the field of the Iberian Peninsula, composed of Spain and Nightboring Portugdy.
“All necessary measures will be tasks to ensure that this does not happen again,” said Sanchez a duration of a press conference in Madrid, only a few hours after the lights came back.
The still inexplicable energy cut was the most severe to reach Spain and Portugal, which have a combined population of around 60 million people. According to Associated Press, the approximately 49 million inhabitants of Spain saw that the energy generation of their country fell into around 15 gigawatts, 60% of the typical demand in real time in the nation in the space of only five seconds.
The Spanish Energy Distributor Red Electrica said on Tuesday that about 99% of its power capacity had restored the leg, after many residents of the capital of Spain, Madrid and Lisbon, in neighboring Portugal they fell asleep in total darkness.
Burak Akbulut/Anadolu through Getty Images 
The offices through the Iberian Peninsula closed and traffic was left in chaos on Monday. Airports, along with trains and subway systems, stop on the ground, ATMs stopped working and mobile phone networks fell. Gas generators and battery radios flew out of the shelves.
What caused the blackout in Spain and Portugal?
Sanchez had said on Monday that a problem in the broader European network, which called a “strong oscillation”, had been behind the interruption, but that was never confirmed or exposed by the Spanish leader or the country’s electric ears, and the officials later that nothing had discarded the legs. On Tuesday, Sánchez ruled out a possible problem, saying that there was no lack of nuclear energy generation capacity on Monday. About 20% of Spain’s power comes from its nuclear plants.
Burak Akbulut/Anadolu through Getty Images 
Ren, the National Electric Network Operator of Portugal, said on Monday that there had been a strange atmospheric phenomenon in Spain, which is set in extreme temperature variations, but that explanation was never confirmed, and on Tuesday, the non -Ororological agency of Spain said atmospheric phenomena “or unexpectedly dramatic temperature fluctuations of the previous day.
Eduardo Prieto, who is in charge of the operations for the Red Electric of Spain, said Monday that although the cause was still clear, the power cut had no precedents, “exceptional and extraordinary.”
The company had said on Monday that there were no indications that a cyber attack caused the interruption, but Sanchez said the next day that a separate investigation would continue to analyze the possibility.
Antonio Costa, president of the EU European Council, said Tuesday that “they were not indications of any cybernetic tarneys.” His colleague Teresa Ribera, one of the executive vice presidents of the European Commission, also seemed to rule out sabotage, but described the blackout “one of the most serious episodes recorded in Europe in recent times.”
The blackout was the second to reach Europe in almost a month. Heathrow airport in London, one of the most busy centers in Europe, It was closed During most March 20, after a local electricity substation, he caught fire. The cause of that fire remains under investigation, but the London Metropolitan Police said it did not seem suspicious.
AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth 
While no official has suggested that the fire in London or the blackout in the Iberian Peninsula were the result of a dire activity, both occurred in the midst of a concern arrested for Russian sabotage operations aimed at the nations of Western Europe that support Ukraine.
A source familiar with the matter confirmed to CBS News in early November that the application agencies of the United States and Europe were working together To investigate If the incendiary devices that detonated in July 2024 in DHL Logistics Hubs in Germany and Great Britain were part of a major Operation led by Russian military intelligence The agencies, senior government officials of Russia, or by external persons acting in the perceived interest of Russia.
There are also numerous incidents or leg or Submarine cablesMainly with power or telecommunications data, being cut or interrupted in recent years, after Russian or Chinese links were in the area.
European officials have said that such alleged sabotage actions are part of a Russian “hybrid war” against the sponsors of Ukraine and their democratic adversaries in the West.
Jovita Neliupšien, ambassador of the European Union in the United States, Said “60 minutes” of CBS News In November, that Russian sabotage, together with the murder of political enemies not only in Russia, but also in European landIt was part of President Vladimir Putin’s commitment to challenge “the order, stability of Europe and the real evidence” the will of the continent and the ability to respond to such operations.
“All those sabotages, cybernetics or attacks against critical infrastructure are occurring in the territory of the EU and NATO. They are testing how much they can …” can move. “
