Civil Protection Service says electrical power returns to 63% of Catalonia

Catalonia's Civil Protection Service announced that, by 11 pm, at least 63% of Catalonia had recovered its electricity after a mass power outage that has been affecting the whole Iberian peninsula since 12:30 pm Monday.

The Catalan president, Salvador Illa, spoke with the press at 8.30 pm on Monday night.

Illa said that at 7:30 pm, around 1.23 million electricity users across Catalonia had regained access to electricity, 41% of the total. 

Illa also stressed that recovering 100% of the power will not be a “simple operation” and that it will happen "gradually."

The main Catalan hospitals and health care centers have recovered electricity, and are “100% operational without any incidents,” Illa said, adding that any scheduled non-urgent operations will be rescheduled for next week.

He also said during the press conference that he expects power to be back "in the coming hours," adding everything will "go back to normal" on Tuesday. 

The interior minister, Núria Parlon, gave a press conference following a second emergency cabinet meeting and explained that commuter trains would not resume service until Tuesday of Rodalies. 

A similar message was shared by Spain's transport minister Óscar Puente. To help commuters return home, authorities will reinforce all bus routes "as long as is required."

During her statement, Parlon said that hospitals across Catalonia are "operating without any recorded issues," and that such medical centres are "prepared to be self-sufficient even in the face of difficulties."

She urged citizens to stay informed through official channels and media outlets, to avoid any unnecessary journeys, and to avoid mobile phones except for "emergency phone calls."

What happened?

Although the reason behind the power outage is as of yet unclear, electricity use in Spain almost halved when the outage took place, based on Red Eléctrica data. Power demand dropped from 27,000 MW to 15,970 MW. 

Around 6:00 pm and 7:00 pm, the system recovered 16,000 MW, which represents around 60% of the expected electricity services. 

At 10:40 pm, Red Eléctrica reported that 48.2% of Spain's network was back in service.

 

Spanish PM reacts

Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez addressed this issue during a televised speech hours after the power outage started. 

Sánchez said that the government "does not rule out any hypothesis," as "there is no conclusive information on the causes of this power outage."

Train stations to open all night

Barcelona’s Sants and Camp de Tarragona's train stations will not close during the night between Monday and Tuesday. These will stay open for the passengers who have been unable to travel as a result of the blackout. 

Other major train stations across Spain will keep their doors open at night, including Madrid’s Atocha station.

This measure was announced by Spanish Transport Minister Òscar Puente after he had said that it was “unforeseeable” that mid- and long-distance train journeys would resume on Monday.

Spanish nuclear plants regain power

Late on Monday evening, Spanish nuclear power plants that have been running on emergency diesel generators, including the Ascó I and II and Vandellòs I in Catalonia, announced that they had restored access to external power. 

Previously, the Spanish Nuclear Security Council assured that the outage had not had an impact on nuclear plant workers or the environment.

Security

Catalan police, the Mossos d'Esquadra, will extend their shifts into the night to perform additional police controls.

Law enforcement agents will patrol around areas left without any light.

Mossos will assist people in need and will inform them of sites to spend the night, such as train stations and sports halls.