Spain hit by telecom disruption weeks after major blackout
Spain has been hit by a widespread communications outage, just weeks after a major power blackout affected the entire Iberian Peninsula. The network failure occurred due to an update by the telecommunications company Telefonica, which disrupted emergency services, landlines, and internet.
The outage, which began early Tuesday, affected regions including Madrid, Catalonia, Valencia, Andalusia, Aragon, and the Basque Country. In several areas, access to the 112 emergency hotline was interrupted, prompting the local authorities to provide alternative contact numbers for emergency services.
Telefonica, Spain’s largest telecom provider, confirmed that it did “some network upgrade work which has affected some companies’ fixed communication services (voice and internet).” The company said the affected systems were isolated and service teams were deployed to restore operations.
According to Telefonica, the origin of these problems stemmed from the network upgrade work, and access to services was “fully restored” by 12:30pm.
The Ministry for Digital Transformation said it was in contact with Telefonica throughout the day and requested a detailed report on the incident.
The disruption comes less than a month after a widespread power outage struck Spain and Portugal on April 28, affecting transport networks, telecommunications, and public infrastructure. The cause of the blackout is still under investigation, though preliminary assessments suggest a voltage anomaly led to automatic safety disconnections.
On Tuesday, Spanish Energy Minister Sara Aagesen said Madrid found no evidence that the blackout was caused by a cyberattack on power generation control centers.
