Spain’s mobile, internet networks crash in massive outage weeks after power blackout

Spain witnessed another chaos early Tuesday morning after its entire mobile network crashed and left millions without phone or internet access, just weeks after the country experienced a widespread power blackout.

The affected networks included Movistar, Orange, Vodafone, Digimobil, and O2. Complaints soared as landline, internet, and emergency contact services were knocked offline.

As per reports, there was no phone signal, no internet, and even the 112 emergency lines went dark in cities like Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, and Valencia.

The Downdetector website reported that the crisis began around 2 am, with 72 per cent of reports related to outages, 18 per cent to no signal, and 10 per cent to a total outage in their area. Spain’s Ministry for Digital Transformation and Civil Service said it is monitoring the situation and requesting precise information.

Network upgrade at Telefonica blamed for outage

According to reports in Spanish media, the networks collapsed following a network upgrade by Telefonica, the country’s second-largest company and key operator for most of Spain’s mobile infrastructure.

Later, a Telefonica spokesperson said, “We have carried out some network upgrades that have affected specific services at some companies. We are working to resolve this.”

Emergency services had to provide new telephone numbers for those in need as phone lines collapsed. Landline telephones were the worst affected.

Telefonica later said in a statement that it had re-established all services in Spain by early afternoon.

Recent power outage hit life in Spain, Portugal and France

The communication outage comes just weeks after a power outage affected the Iberian Peninsula that left millions across Spain, Portugal, and parts of southern France without electricity for almost 23 hours. The blackout, on April 28, affected traffic lights, street lamps, payment terminals, and screens. Hundreds of flights were cancelled at airports across Spain and Portugal.

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez attributed the blackout to an issue in Europe’s grid.

Local reports indicated that the outage disrupted traffic lights, airports, and the Madrid underground. Spanish grid operator Red Electrica worked for hours with energy companies to restore power.

Although cyberattack theories initially surfaced, authorities later ruled them out.