Viral video shows the exact moment of Spain, Portugal power failure; Mic goes down at Madrid Open during interview | Watch | Today news

Large parts of Spain and Portugal, and some parts of France, were hit by a massive power failure on Monday, leaving millions of citizens without electricity. The incident elicited a widespread discussion on social media, with a video capturing the exact moment. The video, which is now viral on social media, is shot at the venue of the Madrid Open tennis tournament. It is seen that a reporter interviewed US tennis player Coco Gauff, where the athlete describes her experience before the match. Gauff talked about her match day on the microphone when the sound was suddenly cut off, thanks to the power failure. Once she realizes the situation, the tennis player is laughed at. Watch the video here: Other videos of the incident show people running through a subway with their mobile torches while the Portugal power failure continues. Another horrible video shows an escalator that is wrong, causing several people to fall one after another. Massive power outages hit Spain, Portugal, France Spain and Portugal were hit by a widespread power eclipse on Monday that caused disruptions in the two countries. The power failure paralyzed public transport, caused major traffic jams and delayed aviation flights, and utility operators struggled to restore the network. The play at the Madrid Open tennis tournament was suspended, forcing the 15th seed Grigor Dimitrov and British opponent Jacob Fearnley off the track, while the counting boards became dark and lost overhead cameras. The Spanish and Portuguese governments convened after the interruption of emergency cabinet meetings, which also briefly influenced part of France, which borders northeastern Spain. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited the electricity transfer operator Red Eléctrica’s control center. Spanish distributor Red Eléctrica said that the recovery of power to large parts of the country to a massive and unprecedented interruption on Monday that also hit Portugal could last 6-10 hours. The interruption knocked out Metro networks, telephone lines, traffic lights and ATM machines. Authorities said the cause was not immediately known, although one Portuguese official said the problem was in the electricity distribution network in Spain. A graph on Spain’s electricity networks website showing demand across the country indicated a sharp decline at about 12:15 am 27,500 MW to nearly 15,000 MW. Portugal’s e-reasons said parts of France were also affected. First published: 28 Apr 2025, 08:54 PM IST