Power began returning to parts of Spain and Portugal late on Monday after a massive blackout paralysed both countries, grounding flights, halting public transport, and suspending hospital operations.
Spain’s Interior Ministry declared a national emergency for regions requesting assistance, including Madrid, Andalusia, and Extremadura. Portugal also convened an emergency cabinet meeting.
The outage, which began around 1033 GMT, triggered chaos in cities, disrupted traffic, and left some metro systems evacuated.
Officials said the cause remains unclear, with no indication of a cyberattack. Portugal’s grid operator REN cited a possible "large oscillation" in Spain’s electrical system that spread to Portugal.
By late evening, electricity was partially restored in Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, and other areas. Priority was given to hospitals and transport networks.
Both Spain and Portugal suffered heavy economic disruption, with businesses shuttered, refineries halted, and airports paralysed.
Parts of southern France also experienced brief outages.
Investigations are ongoing.
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Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has slowed, according to the latest data, as uncertainty over the waterway’s reopening kept most shipowners away. Six commodity vessels crossed the strait on Tuesday, down from nine the day before and below the 10-day daily average of 11.
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains limited on Thursday, with no increase in vessel crossings as U.S.-Iran talks to resolve the conflict remained stalled. Nine commodity vessels transited the key waterway on Wednesday, unchanged from the previous day, according to Kpler data.
Iran has said the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the U.S. fulfils the terms of an interim deal, including lifting the maritime blockade and sanctions and releasing Iran’s frozen assets.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 19th of August, covering the latest developments.
Australia on Thursday condemned Israel’s decision to close its criminal investigation into the deaths of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom and six World Central Kitchen colleagues killed in Gaza in April 2024.
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North Korea has fired more than 10 short-range ballistic missiles after U.S. President Donald Trump reduced American participation in joint military exercises with South Korea in an effort to revive dialogue with Pyongyang.
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