Pedro Sánchez thanks Morocco for its support after the historic power outage in the Iberian Peninsula
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has expressed his gratitude to Morocco and France for their solidarity and collaboration in restoring power supply in several regions of Spain following the massive blackout that affected the entire Iberian Peninsula on Monday.
In a televised appearance, Sánchez stressed that the partial restoration of service in areas of northern and southern Spain was possible ‘thanks to interconnections with France and Morocco.’ ‘I want to thank these two countries for their solidarity at this time,’ he said.
The Moroccan National Office for Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE) provided key technical support to Spain after the power outage. At the request of Red Eléctrica de España (REE), Morocco activated its energy interconnection with its neighbour to help restore supply in several affected regions.
According to a spokesperson for the ONEE speaking to the Moroccan media outlet Le360, ‘the Moroccan electricity grid is operational and has not been affected’ by the incident in Spain. In response to the crisis, the Kingdom facilitated the transfer of electricity through the two high-voltage lines that cross the Strait of Gibraltar, allowing the reactivation of paralysed Spanish power stations and speeding up the restoration of service in different areas.
The electricity interconnection between Morocco and Spain consists of two submarine links connecting the Fardioua transformer station, located near Tangier, with the Tarifa station in southern Spain. This critical infrastructure consists of seven submarine cables with a combined operating capacity of up to 900 megawatts. Thanks to this connection, Spain was able to receive a stable flow of electricity at the most critical moments of the blackout.
The power outage, considered the most serious in the region's recent history, began around 12:33 p.m. and left the whole of Spain and Portugal, as well as parts of southern France, without electricity. According to Red Eléctrica, there was a sudden loss of 15 gigawatts in just five seconds, equivalent to 60% of Spain's energy demand at the time.
Casi el 50% del suministro nacional se ha restablecido.
— Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) April 28, 2025
Los ciudadanos deben saber que todos los recursos del Estado están siendo movilizados para recuperar la normalidad del suministro cuanto antes.
Se va a trabajar a destajo, durante toda la noche. Con profesionalidad y… pic.twitter.com/kxp1RjpSjG
The causes of the blackout are still under investigation. Although cyberattacks or acts of sabotage have been ruled out, experts are considering possible serious technical failures or extreme atmospheric phenomena as triggers for a sharp fluctuation in the power flow that would have caused the disconnection with France.
The blackout caused widespread disruption to key infrastructure. Thousands of people had to be evacuated from trains and air traffic was reduced by 80%. In addition, several regions decided to suspend classes the following day as a preventive measure in view of the continuing power cuts.
Despite the severity of the event, service restoration has progressed steadily. 99.95% of electricity demand has been restored and 100% of substations are operational.
