Planning a trip to Madrid? Maybe hold that thought¡ªbecause Spain just experienced a blackout that felt straight out of a disaster film. This week, it was all about torches, gridlock and unplanned cardio as a massive power outage shut down electricity across Spain, Portugal and parts of France. The chaos started around midday on Monday and everything went dark, literally.
Tourists who just wanted a chill day in Madrid ended up stuck in dead metros, stranded trains, non-functioning lifts, and eerily silent airports. Phones were dead. Cashless payments were useless. Even IKEA said ¡°nope¡± and locked its doors after switching to emergency generators.
The cause? A mysterious hiccup with the power interconnector between Spain and France¡ªthink of it like a giant electric lifeline that just¡ snapped. But according to Europe¡¯s power experts, that¡¯s only part of the story. Whatever happened, it cut Spain off from the European grid, leaving millions in limbo.
Madrid looked more like a zombie apocalypse set than a summer tourist hotspot. Traffic lights? Out. Hospitals? Running on diesel. People were stuck in elevators and calling emergency services by the hundreds. The regional government said responders had to free people from nearly 300 buildings. And metro stations? Total confusion and chaos.
One commuter said people were panicking underground because phones stopped working and there was zero information. On the streets above, traffic snarled into a nightmare, and shops, restaurants, and even major tourist spots went dark.
And if your tickets are already booked, well, surprise! Because EasyJet cancelled multiple flights in Madrid and Lisbon. Over 140 flights were scrapped across both countries. And if you thought you would just hop on a train, good luck. Trains were stuck mid-route with broken AC and toilets. Locals had to physically bring snacks and water to tourists stranded in rural areas.
By evening, about half of Spain had some power restored, but emergency status remains in effect.
So, if you are planning a trip to Spain soon, especially Madrid, be prepared. This is not your average vacation hiccup. It is more ¡°survive the blackout¡± than ¡°eat, pray, love.¡± Although the power has been restored in many areas, all we can suggest is that ask the Kabira inside you to wait and see what is happening cause you never know when the blackout will be back again.