section_path: Effects/Spain
section_name: Spain
paragraph_text: Spain
  
  Spanish train operator Renfe said that all trains had stopped due to the outage. Around 35,000 passengers were rescued after being stranded across the rail and underground systems. Madrid's Barajas International Airport was left without power. Later in the day, airports were back to operation with 20% reduced capacity, and the Minister of Transport Óscar Puente stated that long and medium distance train services would not resume until the next day.
  
  Telecommunications and internet services were also affected, with Netblocks saying that network traffic plunged to just 17 percent of normal usage, while satellite communications increased. Hospitals activated their backup generators and stayed mostly functional.
  
  Spanish authorities reported that the country's nuclear power plants were taken off the grid automatically due to the loss of grid power – four reactors were generating power (3.3 GW) at the time, while three were conducting scheduled maintenance during spring when demand and prices are low. Backup generators automatically supplied cooling to keep all seven reactors safe, while some reactors prepared for re-activation.
  
  The city of Madrid activated its emergency plan PEMAM (Plan Territorial de Emergencia Municipal del Ayuntamiento de Madrid). Most businesses and shops had to close, train and metro lines stopped, and banking was non-functional. Police had to intervene to control traffic and bring security. Confusion and fear spread in episodes reminiscent of the Coronavirus pandemic of 2020, whilst at the same time, some streets and terraces had a cheerful ambience and near-festive mood.
  
  King Felipe VI 's meeting with the president of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, was unaffected because the blackout only partially affected the Palacio de la Zarzuela, and the King was able to maintain the institutional agenda for the day. The Congress of Deputies, the Bolsa de Madrid, the Parliament of Catalonia and the Palacio de la Moncloa were left without power. The Senate suspended its parliamentary activity for 29 April.
  
  Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez convened an emergency meeting of the National Security Council about the power cut.
  
  NASA satellite images show partial lighting in the middle of the night on Tuesday 29 April, as some areas remained offline.
  
  The employers' organization CEOE estimated that the outage resulted in economic losses valued at €1.6 billion.
  
  Certain institutions, such as the Ministry of Defence and the Navy headquarters, still suffered power outages on 29 April despite the general restoration of the electricity supply.
  
  At least seven people died as a result of the blackout in Spain. Six deaths were recorded in Galicia, including three members of the same family who died of carbon monoxide poisoning believed to have been caused by a faulty gasoline generator in a home in Taboadela. The seventh death was recorded in a fire at a house in Madrid that left 13 others injured.
  
  A small rural village in Cantabria stayed online due to its backup-battery of 160 kW / 250 kWh.
  
  The Canary Islands, Balearic Islands, Ceuta, and Melilla were unaffected. Travellers entering Gibraltar by land from Spain reported delays due to the unavailability of IT services at the Spanish border post. Gibraltar itself was not affected, as it is not connected to the European grid.