Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has vowed to “get to the bottom” of the unprecedented power cut that hit the Iberian peninsula on Monday, as energy operators in Spain and Portugal ruled out the possibility of a cyber-attack.
Speaking on Tuesday morning after the power supply had been restored to both countries, Sánchez said that while it was still too early to know exactly what had happened, lessons would be learned to prevent any further large-scale blackouts.
“It’s clear that what happened yesterday can’t happen again,” he said, as he announced the creation of a commission to investigate the incident.
The prime minister said his government would “get to the bottom of this matter”, carrying out any necessary reforms and enacting any necessary measures to ensure there was no repetition of Monday’s events.
Despite energy providers in Spain and Portugal concluding that a cyber-attack was not to blame for the loss of power, Sánchez once again stressed that “no hypothesis” was being ruled out while the country’s intelligence services continued their investigations and analysis.
The prime minister also warned people to be on the lookout for fake news that was still circulating, and dismissed suggestions that the blackout was the result of his administration’s decision to phase out nuclear power.
“Those who link this incident to the lack of nuclear power are frankly lying or demonstrating their ignorance,” Sánchez said, adding that nuclear power generation “was no more resilient” than other electricity sources.
Related: ‘People were stunned’: how massive blackout unfolded across Spain and Portugal
Not long after he spoke, Spain’s highest criminal court, the Audiencia Nacional, said it had opened an investigation to determine whether “an act of computer sabotage” could have been perpetrated “against critical Spanish infrastructure”. Announcing the investigation, a judge at the court said cyberterrorism was “among the possible explanations” for the blackout.
Hours earlier, however, Spain’s electricity operator, Red Eléctrica, said the blackout was not the result of a targeted attack.
The operator’s head of services, Eduardo Prieto, said preliminary investigations meant “we can rule out a cybersecurity incident”, adding that there was nothing to suggest “there was any kind of intrusion into the Red Eléctrica control system”.
Prieto said two consecutive events, which took place at 12.32pm on Monday and then a second and a half later, pointed to a “generation disconnection” that had cut off the supply across the peninsula. While the system weathered the first event, it could not cope with the second. Prieto said the problem had originated in south-west Spain, which is where much of the country’s solar energy is generated.
The Portuguese government also ruled out a cyber-attack.
“In Portugal, we have no information related to a cyber-attack or a hostile act at this stage,” a government spokesman told CNN Portugal, adding: “There would seem to have been an issue in the power transmission network [in Spain].”
By late Tuesday morning, all of Spain’s electricity substations were up and running, and 100% of the country’s power supply had been restored. Across the border in Portugal, the electricity operator REN said all substations were fully operational and the national network had been “perfectly stabilised” by 11.30pm on Monday.
In a statement early on Tuesday, Spain’s national meteorological office, Aemet, appeared to rule out the weather as a possible culprit.
“During the day of 28 April, no unusual meteorological or atmospheric phenomena were detected, and nor were there sudden variations in the temperature in our network of meteorological stations,” said Aemet.
REN also said it had not sent a message circulating on social media on Monday attributing the blackout to a rare atmospheric event. The message, in Portuguese, claimed the shutdown was due to “a fault in the Spanish electricity grid linked to a rare atmospheric phenomenon”.
“REN confirms we did not put out this statement,” a spokesperson told Agence France-Presse.
All of Spain’s airports were operating on Tuesday morning, but the transport ministry advised people to check with their airlines for possible changes and to find out whether they would be able to get to the airport on public transport.
The state rail operator, Renfe, said the country’s train network, which was badly hit by the blackout, was gradually returning to normal but that local train services were suspended in regions including Murcia, Extremadura and Andalucía.
About 35,000 people were rescued from more than 100 trains after the power cut hit on Monday.
In Madrid, 150,000 people were escorted to safety from the capital’s metro system after trains stopped in stations and tunnels. By Tuesday morning, the city’s metro service had been restored on all but one line, and 80% of trains were in operation for rush hour.
At 11am local time (1000 BST), the president of the Madrid region, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, said the metro system was 100% operational, adding: “All schools are open, as are hospitals, health centres, day centres and care centres. Thanks to everyone who’s made this possible.”
The Catalan regional government said local train services were still being affected by the outage but the underground and bus networks were operating normally.
Related: ‘Any radios?’ Rush to buy supplies in Madrid as blackout hits
Widespread outages are unusual in Europe. In 2003, a problem with a hydroelectric power line between Italy and Switzerland caused blackouts for about 12 hours, and in 2006 an overloaded power network in Germany caused electricity cuts across parts of the country and in France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands.
By 10am, shops in Madrid had reopened and many people were heading to ATMs to withdraw the cash they had been unable to access the previous day.
Spain’s busiest railway station, Madrid Atocha, had turned into an impromptu campsite overnight, with frustrated travellers bedding down on cardboard and items of clothing as they waited for news. One distraught couple left the station in tears, while others remained glued to their mobiles trying to contact loved ones and find information amid piles of suitcases.
Ruben Coiran, 24, was returning home to Barcelona and had spent 11 hours stuck in Atocha waiting for news. “It’s tough – putting up with the cold, bearing the hunger, hanging on … We’re having a pretty rough time,” he told Agence France-Presse.
“There were elderly people, children who haven’t been able to eat for six-seven hours. They don’t have toilets,” added Coran, who works in IT.
“It was more difficult for the elderly and for people with babies.”
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