Spain and Portugal report massive power outages, including in their capitals

A major power outage has been reported in Spain and Portugal, including their capitals.

Spanish generator RedElectrica said Monday the Iberian peninsula was affected, saying the incident is being assessed and responded to. The company said in a social media post that it was beginning to restore power in the north and south of the country.

It is rare to have such a widespread outage on the peninsula.

The countries have a combined population of over 50 million people. It was not immediately clear how many people are affected.

Spain’s public broadcaster RTVE said a major power outage hit several regions of the country at around 12:30 p.m. local time, leaving its newsroom, Spain’s parliament in Madrid and metro stations across the country in the dark.

People in neighborhood WhatsApp chats in Barcelona and its outskirts cities and towns also reported the outage.

In Portugal, a country of some 10.6 million people, the outage hit the capital, Lisbon, and surrounding areas, as well as northern and southern parts of the country.

Portuguese distributor E-Redes said the outage was due to “a problem with the European electricity system,” according to Portuguese newspaper Expresso.

The company said it was compelled to cut power in specific areas to stabilize the network, according to Expresso.

E-Redes said parts of France also were affected.

It was not possible to make calls on mobile phone networks, though some apps were working.

Spanish radio stations reported that part of Madrid was being evacuated, according to the Reuters news agency.

Unconfirmed news reports also said the Lisbon subway stopped running. Traffic lights in the city center stopped working.