Skip to main content

Power cuts cause transport chaos in Spain and Portugal

Authorities are so far unaware of reasons for widespread blackouts
By Adam Hill April 28, 2025 Read time: 1 min
Traffic lights have stopped working in some areas (© ITS International | Adam Hill)

Traffic lights have been affected, and transit systems disrupted, in a power blackout affecting large parts of Spain and Portugal.

Media outlets including the BBC and Reuters reported that traffic lights were not working in some cities, while the metro has been closed in cities including Lisbon and Porto.

Major traffic jams were seen in Madrid and, in a post (below) on X, Metro de Madrid said: "Metro service is interrupted due to power outages beyond its control."

Some road tunnels have also been closed.

Madrid's mayor, Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida, has asked people not to travel if possible.

"I ask all residents of Madrid to keep their movements to an absolute minimum and, if at all possible, to remain where they are," he said. "We want to keep all roads clear."

No reasons for the outage have yet been given.

Related Content

  • No, it's not just a buzzword
    July 1, 2025
    Artificial intelligence is coming to ITS – but how do we best use it? What’s it for? Ekin Smart City Technologies, Verra Mobility and Flow Labs answer Adam Hill’s questions…
  • CES 2020: ITS does Vegas
    March 3, 2020
    Keen to find out what the future holds, 170,000 people gathered in Las Vegas for CES 2020 to see 20,000 product debuts and 4,400 exhibitors... and ITS International was there too (All images: CES®)
  • Digital twins help city space race
    October 26, 2022
    As the world becomes more urbanised, there is a need to monitor the likely effects this will have on the way we live, says Jeroen Borst of TNO, the Dutch organisation for applied scientific research
  • It’s official: 20 (or 30) really is plenty
    April 30, 2025
    A study has looked at what 20mph (30 km/h) speed limits mean in terms of road safety – and the answers are encouraging. Alan Dron speaks to transport researcher Aud Tennøy…