Video footage has emerged of cars nearly ploughing into a city bus in the centre of Madrid, as a major power cut continues to cause chaos across the Iberian Peninsula and southern France. The short clip, posted by a Spanish reporter to X, shows cars and vans approaching the roundabout in the city’s Plaza de Cibeles at the same time a bus is attempting to park at a bus stop.
Two vehicles appeared very close to colliding with the large bus, as another vehicle attempted to skirt around the side of the traffic, cramming into an already occupied lane. At the same time, pedestrians appeared to be crossing the road, despite the traffic lights having stopped working.
This comes as a huge power outage in Spain, Portugal and, according to local media, France has sparked travel carnage. Flights and trains have been cancelled and tourists have taken to social media to share their experiences of the disruption.
Spanish power grid operator Red Electrica have said it is working with energy companies to restore power.
The president of the Andalusian regional government, Juan Manuel Moreno, said that, according to information provided to him by the regional cybersecurity centre, “everything points to a blackout of this magnitude only being due to a cyberattack.”
Moreno, however, confirmed that he had not received any communication from the Spanish government regarding the widespread power outage and that he reached this conclusion “solely based on our own data.”
He has also expressed concern about the duration of the blackout: “We’ll see how long this will last because the generators only have a 24-hour capacity.”
Play at the Madrid Open tennis competition has been suspended. American superstar Coco Gauff was giving an interview at the time the power cut struck. As she spoke, the microphone cut out and the advertising hoardings behind her turned off.
Maddie Sephton, who is from west London, was on the Madrid Metro when the power outage occurred.
“We got on the train and everything was fine,” she told Sky News. “But then everything went dark.
“I currently don’t have any internet service and just €15 in my wallet – I can’t withdraw any money from the ATM,” she added.
“People are just walking but have nowhere to go, and nothing to do.”