Camilla Jessen
A massive power outage that plunged Spain and Portugal into darkness wasn’t caused by a cyberattack, officials say.
Nearly two weeks after a massive power outage left parts of Spain and Portugal without electricity for hours on April 28, the Spanish government has ruled out a cyberattack — but the exact cause of the disruption remains a mystery.
Speaking before parliament on Wednesday, Minister of Ecological Transition Sara Aagesen said there is “no indication” that the national grid operator, Red Eléctrica Española (REE), was the target of a digital attack.
“This is very good news,” she told lawmakers. “There are no signs that the system operator suffered any cyber intrusion.”
Still, she emphasized that investigators are not ruling out other explanations and are continuing their work to uncover the truth behind the event.
This was reported by Digi24.
What We Know So Far
The outage was one of the largest in recent years, disrupting electricity supplies across the Iberian Peninsula.
According to Aagesen, the blackout was preceded by two unexplained oscillations in the power system at 12:03 p.m. and 12:19 p.m., just 30 minutes before the collapse.
At 12:33 p.m., three unusual incidents occurred within 20 seconds of each other:
- One at a substation in Granada (southern Spain)
- Another near Badajoz (southwest)
- A third in Seville province
Together, these incidents caused a loss of over 2.2 gigawatts of power, which triggered an automatic disconnection from the broader European power grid, according to the ministry.
Still No Clear Cause
While a cyberattack has been ruled out, officials are still unsure what caused the oscillations or whether they were directly linked to the blackout.
Aagesen urged patience, saying that while the government wants to “know the truth as soon as possible,” the analysis must be thorough.
“We won’t let pressure take us away from the truth,” she said, adding a pointed criticism of those who claimed to know the cause “within minutes” of the event.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez also echoed that caution, stating that “no hypothesis has been ruled out.”
Opposition Targets Renewable Energy
The blackout has sparked political debate, with some opposition parties questioning the reliability of Spain’s increasingly renewable-heavy energy mix.
Aagesen defended the country’s energy strategy, saying the blackout cannot yet be blamed on any specific technology.
REE’s operations director, Eduardo Prieto, stated the day after the event that there was “no sign of intrusion” into their systems, reinforcing the conclusion that technical faults or infrastructure issues — not external attacks — are the most likely cause.