Twenty-four hours after the start of the gigantic electrical breakdown which paralyzed Spain and Portugal, Spanish justice announced on Tuesday April 29 the opening of an investigation to determine whether or not it had been caused by a “IT sabotage”.
“The judge of the national hearing, José Luis Calama, opened a preliminary investigation to determine whether the power failure occurred yesterday in the Spanish electricity network which affected the whole country, could be an act of cyber-sabotage against Spanish critical infrastructure and, if that is the case, could be qualified as terrorist offense”said justice in a statement sent to the France-Presse agency. Throughout the morning on Tuesday, the Portuguese and Spanish authorities said that the cyber attack track was dismissed at the moment.
“In view of the analyzes that we have been able to carry out so far, we can rule out a cybersecurity incident in the installations of the electrical network”assured at midday Eduardo Pieto, director of operations of the manager of Red Eléctrica de España (REE), the Spanish electricity network.
A track also excluded by the Portuguese government, even if the causes of this unprecedented event are still to be specified, Ree having mentioned a “Strong oscillation of power flows” on the electrical network “Accompanied by a very large loss of production”a phenomenon that led to the disconnection of the Spanish system of the European network.
According to Mr. PERIETO, the Spanish electrical system, which had been recovered over 99 % Tuesday morning, was at midday fully operational, like the Portuguese network, according to its operator, Energeticas Nacionais (REN).
Consequences to Greenland
This giant breakdown occurred at midday on Monday and could have had consequences until Greenland, part of which was deprived Monday evening of all its partly managed telecommunications of Spain. In Morocco, also affected by the Iberian failure, Orange Internet connections and the recording and boarding systems of Moroccan airports were also operational again on Tuesday.
After a meeting of the National Security Council, the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, announced on Tuesday the establishment of a commission of inquiry into the causes of the gigantic failure. This will be controlled by the Ministry of Energy Transition. All “The necessary measures will be taken so that this does not happen again”he assured at a press conference, saying that he was going to place the “Private operators” from the electricity sector to “Their responsibilities”.
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Mr. Sanchez also welcomed the citizenship of the inhabitants, affected by this important breakdown. “What Spain has demonstrated the latter twenty-four hours, in addition to the speed of restoring the electrical network, is that it has an admirable population. Yesterday, our country was again faced with a critical situation, and the response of the citizens was up to par ”he was delighted.
Monster traffic jams
The return of the current made it possible to restore rail traffic on several main axes, including Madrid-Séville and Madrid-Barcelona, according to the national company Renfe. However, traffic remains suspended on several other outlines, the authorities having given priority to the restoration of suburban trains. According to the Minister of Transport, Oscar Puente, three trains were still blocked Tuesday morning in Spain with passengers on board. At Atocha station in Madrid, the situation remained complicated with a host of passengers awaiting their train desperately.
In Madrid, bars and shops gradually reopened their doors on Tuesday morning, resuming normal activity after having to close their doors in the precipitation on Monday. Most schools have also normally welcomed students, even if the very decentralized Spanish system leaves great latitude to the different regions to decide these questions.
In Madrid as in Barcelona, thousands of inhabitants had to patiently cross the city on Monday, trying to go home on foot in the middle of monster traffic jams. Long improvised lines have stretched several hundred meters at bus stops. In the Madrid region alone, nearly 300 people found themselves trapped inside the elevators, according to regional authorities.