Spain Faces Largest Power Outage in Decade, Investigation Underway

Spain and Portugal recently experienced their largest-ever blackout, with around 55 million people affected for up to 23 hours, causing widespread disruption to transport, communications, and daily life. The exact cause remains unclear, but authorities have ruled out a cyberattack, and theories range from technical failures to the vulnerability of a grid heavily reliant on renewable energy. Experts and commentators have highlighted that Spain’s move away from nuclear and fossil fuels toward renewables may have reduced the grid's resilience, especially due to the lack of 'inertia' typically provided by spinning generators in traditional power plants. While some draw parallels to past blackouts on fossil-fuel grids, Spain's situation has intensified debate over the risks of rapid energy transitions without maintaining grid stability. The government has launched an investigation, with critics arguing that political and energy policy decisions must be scrutinized to prevent future crises. The incident has also prompted wider discussions in Europe on the balance between green energy goals and energy security.