Spain and Portugal focus on cause of huge blackout with power almost fully restored
The cause of Spain and Portugal's widespread blackouts remained a mystery on Tuesday, with some isolated disruption remaining after power was largely restored to both countries.
One of Europe맥스카지노s grounded flights, paralyzed metro systems, disrupted mobile communications and shut down ATMs across the Iberian Peninsula on Monday.
By 7 a.m. on Tuesday more than 99% of energy demand in Spain had been restored, the country's electricity operator Red Eléctrica said. Portuguese grid operator REN said all 89 power substations were back online and power had been restored to all 6.4 million customers.
As life began to return to normal 맥스카지노 with schools and offices reopening, traffic easing and public transport restarting 맥스카지노 the authorities in Spain have yet to provide further explanations for what caused one of the most serious blackouts to ever take place in Europe.
The Southern European nation of 49 million people lost 15 gigawatts 맥스카지노 equivalent to 60% of its national demand 맥스카지노 in just five seconds.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said that the government's priorities were twofold: restoring Spain's electrical system and finding the causes of the blackout so that a similar event 맥스카지노never takes place again.맥스카지노
Cause remains a mystery
Such widespread electric failure has little precedent on the Iberian Peninsula or in Europe.
Eduardo Prieto, director of services for system operations at Spain's electricity operator, noted two steep, back-to-back 맥스카지노disconnection events맥스카지노 before Monday's blackout. Speaking at a press conference Tuesday, he said more investigation was needed to understand why they took place.
Spain맥스카지노s meteorological agency, AEMET, said that it had not detected any 맥스카지노unusual meteorological or atmospheric phenomena맥스카지노 on Monday, and no sudden temperature fluctuations were recorded at their weather stations.
Portugal맥스카지노s National Cybersecurity Center on Monday dismissed speculation about foul play, saying there was no sign that the outage resulted from a cyber attack.
European Council President Antonio Costa also said there were 맥스카지노no indications of any cyber attack,맥스카지노 while Teresa Ribera, an executive vice president of the European Commission, also ruled out sabotage. Nonetheless, the outage 맥스카지노is one of the most serious episodes recorded in Europe in recent times,맥스카지노 she said.
Madrid Tennis Open opening delayed
At Spain's largest train stations, droves of travelers waited Tuesday morning to board trains, or to rebook tickets for journeys that were canceled or disrupted.
At Madrid's Atocha station, hundreds of people stood near screens waiting for updates. Many had spent the night at the station, wrapped in blankets provided by the Red Cross. Similar scenes played out at Barcelona's Sants station.
The tennis tournament being held this week was still affected by the power outage Tuesday after its cancellation the previous day. Tournament organizers delayed opening its doors.
Mainline trains still disrupted
By 11 a.m. Tuesday, service on Madrid's metro system was fully restored. In Barcelona, the system was operating normally, but commuter trains were suspended due to 맥스카지노electrical instability,맥스카지노 the company that runs the service, Rodalies Catalunya, said on X.
In some parts of the country, commuter and mid-distance services were still suspended or running at reduced capacity.
Emergency workers in Spain said they had rescued some 35,000 passengers on Monday stranded along railways and underground, with the blackout turning sports centers, train stations and airports into makeshift overnight refuges.
Rubén Carión was stranded on a commuter train outside Madrid but managed to open a window and walk to the nearest transit station. He spent the night in Atocha station after his train back to Barcelona was canceled.
The 24-year-old said he chose to wait overnight at the station instead of a hotel so he could stay updated on when he could board a train home, describing his experience as 맥스카지노pure chaos.맥스카지노
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Associated Press video journalist Helena Alves in Lisbon, Portugal, contributed to this report.