Spain hit by nationwide mobile network blackout weeks after power crisis

The mobile network blackout in Spain caused a loss of signal, inability to make calls, receive texts, or use mobile data, as well as access emergency numbers

Spain was plunged into fresh chaos early Tuesday morning (local time) after a major mobile network outage left millions without phone or internet access, just weeks after the country experienced a widespread power blackout.

 

The mobile blackout affected all major telecom providers including Movistar, Orange, Vodafone, Digimobil and O2. European media reported that the issue originated around 2 am and only got worse by 5 am, disrupting services in cities across the country such as Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Valencia, Bilbao, and Malaga.

 

Users reported complete loss of signal, inability to make calls, receive texts, or use mobile data. The outage also disrupted access to the EU-wide emergency number 112 in several regions, including Aragón, Extremadura, the Basque Country and the Valencia community, prompting authorities to issue alternative contact numbers.

 

 

Some services were gradually restored later in the morning.

 

Network upgrade at Telefonica blamed for outage

Spanish media attributed the failure to a major technical fault during a network upgrade by Telefonica, the country's second-largest company and key operator for most of Spain’s mobile infrastructure. Landline services were particularly hard hit, though all voice-related services experienced disruptions to varying degrees.

 

A Telefonica spokesperson acknowledged the problem, telling UK daily, The Independent, "We have carried out some network upgrades that have affected specific services at some companies. We are working to resolve this." Additionally, the Ministry for Digital Transformation said it is monitoring the situation and seeking further details.

 

2025 Iberian Peninsula Blackout

This is the second major infrastructure failure in Spain in less than a month. On April 28, a nationwide power outage, dubbed the 2025 Iberian Peninsula Blackout, left Spain and parts of Portugal without electricity for nearly 10 hours, severely affecting transport systems, payment terminals, and public safety infrastructure. Although cyberattack theories initially surfaced, authorities later ruled them out.

 

The blackout occurred as Spain’s energy mix leaned heavily on renewables, with solar and wind accounting for over 60 per cent of electricity production just before the crash, prompting critics, especially opposition parties and some external observers, to question the stability of the region’s push toward net-zero targets, according to a report by CNBC.

 

However, both Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Red Eléctrica de España (REE), the national grid operator, firmly denied that renewable energy sources were to blame. REE president Beatriz Corredor told Cadena SER radio that current renewable technologies are stable and equipped with systems ensuring safe, conventional operation.

 

As power gradually returned and life resumed across the region, the incident sparked debate over the resilience of green energy infrastructure.