Nationwide blackout in Spain causes deaths from generator fumes, fire
3 Min Read
The unprecedented blackout, which struck around midday Monday, paralyzed life across Spain and Portugal.
-
A man sells battery-powered radios and torches on a Barcelona street during the blackout in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, April 29, 2025 (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Spain’s sweeping power outage on Monday has taken a deadly toll, with emergency services confirming that three elderly residents died from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning after using a generator indoors. The incident occurred in Taboadela, a small town of about 1,500 people in the northwestern region of Galicia.
Police said the victims were found inside a home alongside a domestic generator, which one of them had set up to power an oxygen machine during the blackout. Emergency responders detected "a high concentration of carbon monoxide" in the residence, according to a statement from regional authorities.
In a separate tragedy, Spanish media reported that a woman in Madrid lost her life when a candle, lit during the outage, caused a fatal fire in her apartment.
Iberian blackout
The unprecedented blackout paralyzed life across Spain and Portugal. Trains were halted, traffic lights failed, and mobile networks collapsed, leaving millions unable to communicate or conduct electronic transactions. In the absence of power, many residents turned to candles for light and relied on cash as card systems went offline.
The outage affected nearly 60 million people across the Iberian Peninsula, with disruptions briefly reaching southwest France and parts of Morocco. In Spain alone, authorities reported 286 rescue operations for people trapped in elevators, and emergency shelters were opened in major cities to assist stranded travelers.
Read more: Major blackout hits Spain, Portugal, France; flights grounded
Although power has now been restored to over 99% of mainland Spain and all of Portugal, the cause of the blackout remains unclear. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced Tuesday that a commission would be formed to investigate the failure. "About 15 gigawatts of electricity, more than half of the power being consumed at the time, suddenly disappeared" within five seconds, Sánchez explained, urging patience and caution against speculation.
The European Commission has also been briefed, and both Spanish and Portuguese officials have stressed that, so far, there are "no indications of any cyberattack." Nonetheless, the sudden scale of the disruption has intensified calls for a comprehensive review of the region’s critical infrastructure.
As families mourn the victims and cities continue to recover, questions loom large over how one of Europe’s most severe blackouts unfolded, and how to prevent a repeat in the future.
