Spain, Portugal count toll from mass blackout

Spain and Portugal continued to assess the aftermath of Monday's unprecedented power outage, with preliminary investigations ruling out cyberattacks while economic costs soar into billions of euros.

Spain's main business lobby, the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE), estimated the blackout would cost the economy 1.6 billion euros ($1.82 billion), representing 0.1 percent of GDP. The meat industry alone reported losses up to 190 million euros from compromised refrigeration systems, highlighting the widespread impact across sectors, reported Reuters.

The Spanish grid operator Red Electrica revealed on Tuesday that two "disconnection events" occurred just over a second apart in Spain's solar-rich southwest region, triggering a cascade of failures that knocked out 60 percent of the power demand within five seconds. While the system managed the first disruption, the second proved overwhelming, it said, according to The Guardian newspaper.

"In Portugal, we have no information related to a cyber-attack or a hostile act at this stage," a Portuguese government spokesperson told CNN Portugal, suggesting the issue originated in Spain's power transmission network.

The incident has raised questions about grid resilience and renewable energy integration. However, one expert cited by the BBC dismissed suggestions that renewable energy sources were to blame. "Spain has a lot of experience of wind and solar, and a long-standing system of forecasting weather and its impacts," said Keith Bell, a professor at the University of Strathclyde. "All sorts of systems fail, whether that is from renewables, fossil fuels or nuclear power."

The human toll includes five fatalities in Spain, including three people who died from carbon monoxide poisoning while using a generator, and two others in separate incidents involving a failed oxygen machine and a candle-induced fire, reported the Guardian.

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez vowed a thorough investigation: "It's clear that what happened yesterday can't happen again," he said, announcing a commission to examine the incident and private energy companies' roles. He dismissed claims linking the blackout to nuclear power phase-out as "frankly lying or demonstrating ignorance".

Portugal's Prime Minister Luis Montenegro called for an independent audit by the European Union's Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators to "fully determine the causes of this situation."

As both countries returned to normal operations Tuesday, industries faced varying recovery timelines, according to Reuters. In Spain, Volkswagen's Navarra plant, where 4,600 people work, lost production of about 1,400 cars, while its SEAT plant in Barcelona, employing 14,000 people, had not fully restored normal operations even after power returned.

Major oil refineries across Spain and Portugal were gradually restarting operations, with Repsol working to restore production at its five refineries and petrochemical plants, though the timeline for full recovery remained uncertain.

Food retailers reopened but were still assessing losses from spoiled produce and disrupted payment systems, while many residents had scrambled to stock up on essentials during the outage.

The aviation sector saw about 500 flights cancelled across Spain and Portugal during the outage, with Lisbon airport particularly affected, though normal operations resumed Tuesday.

The tourism sector reported minimal disruption, with some hotels providing refuge for stranded individuals during the crisis.