Iberian power blackout halts container terminals at Spanish ports
Iberian power blackout halts container terminals at Spanish ports. The disruption ran from 2025-04-28 (28 April 2025) to 2025-04-29 (29 April 2025), 2 days, affecting Algeciras, Valencia, Barcelona. Algeciras averaged 12.0 calls per day during the event window against an expected 17.5 (-31.4%). Valencia averaged 8.0 calls per day during the event window against an expected 9.0 (-11.1%). Barcelona averaged 12.0 calls per day during the event window against an expected 11.3 (+6.7%).
Key facts
- Started
- 2025-04-28 (28 April 2025)
- Ended
- 2025-04-29 (29 April 2025)
- Status
- ended
- Severity
- 1 Minor
- Scope
- regional
- Chokepoints
- None
- Lanes
- None
- Confidence
- medium: The blackout, its restoration times and its cause are documented by the grid operator, the Spanish government and ENTSO-E, but the port level detail rests on trade and regional press reporting of what the port authorities said, rather than on port authority statements still online.
- First reported
- 2025-04-28 (28 April 2025)
- Severity basis: Port level stoppage under 24 hours, since container handling stopped at the affected Spanish ports from the early afternoon of 2025-04-28 and had restarted by the morning of 2025-04-29.
What happened
A power failure across mainland Spain and Portugal on 2025-04-28 (28 April 2025) stopped container handling at Spanish ports for the rest of that day. Supply was lost in the early afternoon. At Algeciras the port authority activated its crisis committee and the first level of its self protection plan, the two container terminals stopped, and lorries could not be processed because the customs system was unavailable, while ferry links to Ceuta and Tánger Med continued on a standby generator. Container terminals at Barcelona also stopped, and Valencia regained power at 21:30. Trade press reported on 2025-04-29 that terminals at Algeciras, Barcelona and Valencia were working again, with traffic backed up but operations described as normal.
Measured effect
Port calls, Algeciras
- Baseline (expected)
- 17.5 calls per day
- Observed
- 12.0 calls per day
- Change
- -5.5 (-31.4%)
- Standardised score
- -1.3
- Event window
- 2025-04-28 to 2025-04-29 (2 days)
- Baseline window
- 2025-02-24 to 2025-04-20 (56 valid days)
- Method
- wfm-effect-1.0
- Computed
- 2026-09-24 (24 September 2026), data revision 1:de1af41e3ec3
Source: IMF PortWatch (portwatch.imf.org), International Monetary Fund, using UN Global Platform AIS data. Statistics derived by World Freight Monitor. Terms.
This is a measured change in public data during the event window, compared with a baseline before it. It shows timing, not cause. We describe an event as causing a change only when an official source says so.
Port calls, Valencia
- Baseline (expected)
- 9.0 calls per day
- Observed
- 8.0 calls per day
- Change
- -1.0 (-11.1%)
- Standardised score
- -0.3
- Event window
- 2025-04-28 to 2025-04-29 (2 days)
- Baseline window
- 2025-02-24 to 2025-04-20 (56 valid days)
- Method
- wfm-effect-1.0
- Computed
- 2026-09-24 (24 September 2026), data revision 1:d98b372d4214
Source: IMF PortWatch (portwatch.imf.org), International Monetary Fund, using UN Global Platform AIS data. Statistics derived by World Freight Monitor. Terms.
This is a measured change in public data during the event window, compared with a baseline before it. It shows timing, not cause. We describe an event as causing a change only when an official source says so.
Port calls, Barcelona
- Baseline (expected)
- 11.3 calls per day
- Observed
- 12.0 calls per day
- Change
- +0.8 (+6.7%)
- Standardised score
- +0.2
- Event window
- 2025-04-28 to 2025-04-29 (2 days)
- Baseline window
- 2025-02-24 to 2025-04-20 (56 valid days)
- Method
- wfm-effect-1.0
- Computed
- 2026-09-24 (24 September 2026), data revision 1:be35a5ed9ab3
Source: IMF PortWatch (portwatch.imf.org), International Monetary Fund, using UN Global Platform AIS data. Statistics derived by World Freight Monitor. Terms.
This is a measured change in public data during the event window, compared with a baseline before it. It shows timing, not cause. We describe an event as causing a change only when an official source says so.
Timeline
- Electricity supply fails across mainland Spain and Portugal in the early afternoon. Red Eléctrica activates its response protocol and begins restoring the transmission grid. [s3]
- The Algeciras port authority activates a crisis committee and level one of its self protection plan. Both container terminals stop, the customs system is unavailable so lorries cannot be processed, and ferry links to Ceuta and Tánger Med run on a standby generator. [s4]
- Red Eléctrica reports that all transmission substations were energised by 04:00 and that 99.95 per cent of peninsular demand was restored by 07:00. [s3]
- Trade press reports that container terminals at Algeciras restarted in the morning, that Barcelona had resumed after its terminals stopped, and that Valencia regained power at 21:30 the previous evening and was working with accumulated traffic. [s5]
- The Spanish government presents the report of its committee on the electricity crisis, which attributes the failure to an overvoltage of multifactorial origin and finds no evidence of a cyber attack. [s1]
- ENTSO-E publishes the final report of its expert panel, which attributes the blackout to a combination of interacting factors in voltage and reactive power control and to cascading generator disconnections. [s2]
Cause
The Spanish government's committee reported on 2025-06-17 that the blackout had a multifactorial origin ending in an overvoltage, and found no evidence of a cyber attack. The ENTSO-E expert panel's final report of 2026-03-20 reached a similar conclusion, citing oscillations, gaps in voltage and reactive power control and cascading generator disconnections. Findings are no longer pending. Attributed by: Government of Spain and ENTSO-E. [s1] [s2]
Resolution
2025-04-29 (29 April 2025): Supply was restored overnight, with all transmission substations energised by 04:00 on 2025-04-29 and almost all demand served by 07:00. Container terminals at Algeciras, Barcelona and Valencia were reported working again that day, with accumulated traffic to clear. [s3] [s5]
Corrections
No corrections to this record as of 2026-09-24 (24 September 2026).
Sources
- [s1] Government of Spain, El Gobierno presenta el informe sobre las causas del apagón, que se debió a una sobretensión de origen "multifactorial", published 2025-06-17 (17 June 2025), accessed 2026-09-15. Archived copy. (official)
- [s2] ENTSO-E, ENTSO-E Publishes Expert Panel Final Report on 28 April 2025 Blackout in Spain and Portugal, published 2026-03-20 (20 March 2026), accessed 2026-09-15. Archived copy. (official)
- [s3] Red Eléctrica, Red Eléctrica's response to the incident of 28 April, published 2025-04-28 (28 April 2025), accessed 2026-09-15. Archived copy. (official)
- [s4] El Estrecho Digital, El apagón eléctrico en España paraliza las terminales de contenedores del puerto de Algeciras, published 2025-04-28 (28 April 2025), accessed 2026-09-15. Archived copy. (press)
- [s5] Diario del Puerto, Los puertos retoman su actividad con relativa normalidad, published 2025-04-29 (29 April 2025), accessed 2026-09-15. Archived copy. (press)