Portugal suspends transportation and evacuates thousands of passengers at Lisbon Airport due to blackout

Nearly two hours after Portugal’s lights suddenly went out due to a massive blackout affecting the Iberian Peninsula this Monday, the main question remains unanswered. No official explanation has yet been given for the origin of the major electrical failure that has disrupted daily life across several countries.

The Minister for Territorial Cohesion, Manuel Castro Almeida, admitted that it could be the result of a cyberattack. “That possibility exists, but it has not been confirmed,” he told the Portuguese broadcaster RTP 3. Meanwhile, Defense Minister Nuno Melo urged the public to remain calm, while acknowledging that the cause of the collapse of the power grid across Spain, Portugal, and a small area of southern France is still unknown.

As in Spain, the power outage did not affect Portugal’s island territories. The islands of the archipelagos of Madeira and the Azores have continued with their normal energy activity. For the time being, there is no official forecast of the time it will take to recover the supply.

In Lisbon, the blackout left streets without functioning traffic lights, forced the metro to shut down, and suspended train services. Only the public bus network remained operational.

At Lisbon’s Humberto Delgado Airport, flight operations were suspended, and later, evacuations were ordered at both terminals. ANA, the company managing Portugal’s airports, was able to partially mitigate the blackout’s effects in Porto and Faro, but not in Lisbon, where passengers crowded outside the terminals.

Confusion is widespread, as it remains unknown when the situation will be normalized. The power outage disrupted nearly every aspect of airport services, from flight operations to restroom water supplies and payment systems in food outlets.

The country’s hospitals are operating thanks to generators, although scheduled operations have been suspended in many of them. Also, some schools are asking families to pick up their children. Traffic slowed considerably due to non-functioning traffic lights.

Portugal’s National Electricity Network (REN) and e-Redes, the companies responsible for power distribution, confirmed that it is a widespread blackout and that the cause remains unknown. Authorities are working to restore service. The government has called an extraordinary Council of Ministers to address the situation.