Spanish Blackout Drags Into Evening as Power Slowly Returns

The worst blackout to hit Europe in over a decade dragged on into Monday evening across much of Spain and Portugal even as Spain’s grid operator gradually restored power to parts of the country.

By 9 p.m., there was 18.3 gigawatts of demand on the power grid, about three quarters the amount seen just before the blackout happened around 12:30 p.m. local time, according to data from grid operator Red Electrica. An hour earlier, the operator reported that nearly 20% of power supply in Spain was restored.