Adif, which is in charge of overseeing Spain’s train infrastructure, said on X that “rail services of all companies are suspended until further notice. Passengers with planned trips are asked not to go to the stations.”
Airlines and airports are working to restore operations
Major air travel hubs across the two countries—including Madrid’s Barajas Airport and Portugal’s Lisbon Airport—were affected by the outage. Photos from CNN showed hundreds of people waiting in the dark at Lisbon airport. However, many airports were able to access backup power from generators and restart operations, at least partially.
“Airports of the Aena network are operational with backup electrical systems,” the airport operator said on X. “The impact on flights will depend on the difficulties passengers and crews face when arriving to the airports.” The company went on to note that some flights are being delayed and that passengers should check their flight status with their airline.
Operations at Barcelona airport and Malaga airport were back up and running by 3:30 p.m. local time, according to El Mundo. But Aena still notes in a statement on its website that “some incidents are occurring at the airports,” and that passengers should “check with your airline, as there may be disruptions to access and ground transportation.”
Flight delays appeared to persist in airports in Lisbon, Madrid, and Barcelona, according to data from FlightAware. Madrid was experiencing “arrival delays for airborne aircraft an average of 38 minutes (and increasing)” and “departure delays an average of 34 minutes (and increasing),” around 5 p.m. local time, according to FlightAware’s site. At the same time, Barcelona International Airport was only experiencing “departure delays an average of 27 minutes (and decreasing),” FlightAware reported.
Portuguese airline TAP Air Portugal asked passengers not to come to the airport: “Due to the power cut in several European countries, the operation of airports is temporarily very limited. TAP requests that you do not go to the airport until further information,” the carrier said on its website.
Spanish airline Iberia said its flights were operating normally, but travelers still had the option to reschedule their trip. “Despite the widespread power outage in Spain and other European countries, Iberia’s systems are operating at 100%,” the Spanish carrier said on X. “However, given the difficulties at several airports, we are offering all passengers with flights scheduled for today the option to reschedule their trip. We ask all passengers to monitor our announcements in case problems persist and we are forced to modify our schedule.”
What should I do if I’m trying to travel in Spain or Portugal right now?
For the time being, the advice is mainly to sit tight and avoid travel. Roads need to be kept clear, and most train networks and airports are out of action. Visit your airline or train line’s social media page or website for the latest advice.
This is a developing news story and will be updated with more information as it becomes available. Condé Nast Traveller UK contributed reporting.