CHEERS erupted across Spain and Portugal on Monday night as electricity finally flickered back to life following a colossal blackout that plunged the Iberian peninsula into darkness.
The major outage brought two nations to a grinding halt — grounding flights, crippling public transport, knocking out hospitals, and shuttering stores from Lisbon to Barcelona.
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The cause was unclear, with Portugal suggesting the issue originated in Spain and Spain pointing the finger at a break-up in its connection to France.
Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said there was “no indication” a cyberattack had caused the blackout, which began around 10.33am UK time.
Nonetheless, rumours circulated of possible sabotage, and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he had spoken to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
Sanchez said that the country had suffered a loss of 15GW of electricity generation in five seconds, equivalent to 60% of national demand.
Technicians were working to figure out why that sudden drop occurred, he said.
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