Spain Declares State of Emergency Amid Nationwide Power Outage in Iberian Peninsula

Spain Declares State of Emergency After Widespread Power Outage

Madrid, Spain – In response to a nationwide power outage affecting the Iberian Peninsula, Spain’s Interior Ministry declared a state of emergency on Monday. However, the emergency status will only be implemented in regions that formally request it.

So far, Madrid, Andalusia, and Extremadura have sought assistance from the central government, requesting control over public order and additional administrative functions due to the disruption, Reuters reports.

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez addressed the nation, stating that the cause of the power outage remains unknown. “We do not yet have conclusive information on the reasons for this (power) cut, so I ask the people to inform themselves through official channels,” he said. “For the time being, there’s no evidence of any civil protection problems. I repeat, there are no problems of insecurity.”

The National Security Council is expected to convene again on Monday evening to evaluate the situation further.

Power outages of this scale are rare in Europe. Notably, in 2003, a hydroelectric power line fault between Italy and Switzerland triggered a major blackout that lasted about 12 hours. Similarly, in 2006, an overloaded power grid in Germany caused widespread disruptions across several European countries, including Spain, France, and Italy.