Large parts of Spain and Portugal hit by power outage

Large parts of Spain and Portugal - including Madrid and Lisbon - have been hit by a power outage.

Spanish power grid operator Red Electrica says it is working with energy companies to restore power. The Spanish government has convened a crisis meeting at the offices of Red Electrica due to the outage, according to the El Pais newspaper in the country.

It comes as France briefly lost power following the outages in Spain and Portugal, French grid operator RTE said. Parts of Madrid underground have been evacuated and traffic lights in the city are not working, according to local media.

Play has been suspended at the Madrid Open tennis tournament due to the outage - with Britain's Jacob Fearnley forced off court in a critical moment during his third-round tie with Grigor Dimitrov. The loss of power affected scoreboards and the camera above the court.

Maddie Sephton, who is from west London, was on the Madrid Metro when the power outage occurred. "We got on the train and everything was fine," she told Sky News.

"But then everything went dark." She was stuck on the train for 20 minutes until a staff member opened the doors manually. Mrs Sephton says she was on her way to the airport at the time - and had to exit the station by hiking up 15 flights of stairs with her luggage.

"No lifts are operating - making it difficult for elderly people with limited mobility," she added. Above ground, she said that "everyone is just standing around and waiting".

Bars are unable to take card payments, cash machines are down, and traffic lights aren't working either. "I currently don't have any internet service and just €15 in my wallet - I can't withdraw any money from the ATM," she added.

"A couple have offered to let us get a ride in their taxi to the airport. Their flight is at 4.30pm so they're pretty relaxed - but my flight back to London is at 3pm and I'm nervous." Mrs Sephton said: "People are just walking but have nowhere to go, and nothing to do." Meanwhile, thousands of passengers have had to be evacuated after the blackout left the metro service in Barcelona without power, according to Spanish news site El Mundo.

The blackout is also reported to have forced the closure of the city's tram system and rendered some traffic lights there inoperable. It comes as Metrovalencia, the urban rail system, encompassing both metro and tram services in Valencia, said traffic in the city is "disrupted" due to a "general power outage in the city".

In a post on X, Metrovalencia added: "The extent and duration of the outage are unknown." The outage also hit the Portuguese capital Lisbon and surrounding areas, as well as northern and southern parts of the country. Portugal's government said the incident appeared to stem from problems outside the country, an official told national news agency Lusa.

"It looks like it was a problem with the distribution network, apparently in Spain. It's still being ascertained," Cabinet Minister Leitão Amaro was quoted as saying.

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