Massive power outages strike Spain and Portugal

Spain and Portugal have been hit by a massive power outage that has caused blackouts, The Guardian writes.

According to The Sun, some hospitals have canceled all surgeries scheduled for Monday, train services have been suspended, and flights have been canceled at a number of airports.

The Spanish grid operator Red Eléctrica said it had activated plans to restore the supply, with “all resources dedicated to solving” the disruption.

It said the Iberian peninsula, with a combined population of more than 50 million people, had been affected.

Spain’s public broadcaster RTVE said the major power outage had hit several regions of the country at around 12:30 p.m. local time.

People in neighborhood WhatsApp chats in Barcelona and cities and towns in its outskirts also reported the outage.

In Portugal, a country of about 10.6 million people, the outage hit the capital, Lisbon, and surrounding areas, as well as northern and southern parts of the country.

The Portuguese distributor E-Redes said the outage was due to “a problem with the European electricity system”, according to the Portuguese newspaper Expresso.

The company said it was compelled to cut power in specific areas to stabilize the network, according to Expresso.