Wild conspiracy theories have flooded the internet following a widespread power cut that rocked Spain and Portugal on Monday.
Some internet investigators have come up with strange ideas ranging from extraterrestrial invasions to electromagnetic pulse attacks by the US government, as details about the root cause of the widespread power outages remain limited.
The massive outage left thousands of people stranded in trains and elevators, while millions saw phone and internet coverage die.
The lights gradually started coming back on late last night, and officials have now confirmed that more than 90% of the power has been restored in the Iberian Peninsula.
Although there is no definitive explanation for the blackout yet, Eduardo Prieto, who oversees services for Spain’s national power grid, stated on Tuesday morning that a ‘cybersecurity incident’ has been dismissed as a potential cause.
He also added that there was nothing to suggest that ‘there was any kind of intrusion’ into the operator’s control system, adding that it was quite possible that the affected generation was solar, but it was to early to say for sure.
Meanwhile, Spain’s top criminal court said on Tuesday it was investigating whether the huge blackout that paralysed the Iberian Peninsula was ‘an act of computer sabotage on critical infrastructure’.
Although the causes are unknown, the ‘critical situation’ generated for the population meant an investigation was necessary, the Audiencia Nacional said in a statement.
While Spaniards wait for the government to come forward with a full explanation for the outage, wild rumours and conspiracy theories have started to circle online over what could be behind the rare blackout.
Some unconfirmed reports yesterday appeared to suggest that the outage could have been caused by a meteorological or atmospheric phenomena.
A man works in a restaurant during a power outage, in Madrid, Spain, 28 April 2025
. A ‘massive’ power cut late on April 28, 2025 morning affected the whole of the Iberian peninsula and part of France, according to Portuguese electricity network operator REN
Wild conspiracy theories about the causes of the power outage have flooded the internet
Online sleuths were quick to add to this suggestion, arguing that the change in atmospheric vibrations had been caused by aliens.
‘Who in their right mind would believe such a BS reason for the power going out? (The blackout was attributed to a rare atmospheric phenomenon known as ‘induced atmospheric vibration.’) I say, Aliens’, one user said on social platform X.
‘Definitely aliens are more believable than ‘oh, oops the grid overheated’,’ another added.
A third online conspiracy theorist suggested that aliens were behind the deactivation of weapons being tested for a possible third world war, noting that the extraterrestrials are ‘going to give you a hint as to what really happened in [today’s] blackout/power outage’.
Other keyboard warriors have taken to social media platforms to suggest Spain and Portugal had been attacked by electromagnetic pulse weapons, also known as EMPs.
These are devices that create pulses of energy to disable electrical systems.
One user on TikTok who said they were based in the Spanish city of Valencia believed that they had been struck by EMPs, saying that ‘when it happened it sounded so weird and it went out. No phone service, no power, it was apocalyptic’.
Another agreed, commenting: ‘I [have] been saying EMP from the jump’.
On X, one account suggested that the proposed theory of atmospheric oscillations being the cause for the blackout pointed to EMPs.
‘I hate being correct sometimes… Frequency Weapons 101: Advanced militaries and black-budget programs have long explored and experimented with electromagnetic (EM) and directed-energy weapons that manipulate frequencies to disrupt infrastructure….’, the online sleuth wrote.
Spanish officials ruled out that the blackout was caused by a cyberattack
Traffic at a stand still on the motorways around Madrid during a general power blackout
‘High-voltage lines are susceptible to frequency interference. A weaponized frequency pulse could induce harmonic oscillations, overloading transformers and triggering a domino-effect blackout—EXACTLY what Iberia saw’, the account added.
Other vocal conspiracy theorists have insisted that chemtrails that are often seen in the sky were part of a coordinated attempt to manipulate Spain and Portugal’s power systems.
Chemtrails are a visible trail left in the sky by airplanes, but some people believe that they are chemical agents released as part as a covert operation.
Following Tuesday’s massive blackout, one X user wrote that there were ‘dark entities’ trying to ‘push back against an energetic shift that’s been building momentum across Europe especially.’
The online conspiracy theorist went on to say that the chemtrails were ‘part of a physical layer of energetic dampening introduced by a dark force.
Spanish authorities were quick to confirm that there was no reason to believe that a cyberattack caused the widespread power-cut, but others insisted that they still believed this to be the case.
On TikTok, conspiracies suggested that the Iberian grid system had been hacked by the US.
‘The truth is that the power grid systems of these countries have been hacked. There us only one country in the world with this ability, and that its the United States, which has deployed the Prism program’, one TikTok commenter said, adding: ‘This is a warning’.
On Tuesday, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said that the government’s priorities were to restore Spain’s electrical system and find the causes of the blackout
Others believed the outage was the result of a cyberattack orchestrated by Russia’s Vladimir Putin to ‘practice before declaring a war on the West,’ according to one X account.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said that the government’s priorities were twofold: restoring Spain’s electrical system and finding the causes of the blackout so that a similar event ‘never takes place again.’
By 7 a.m. today more than 99% of energy demand in Spain had been restored, the country’s electricity operator Red Eléctrica said.
Portuguese grid operator REN said all 89 power substations were back online and power had been restored to all 6.4 million customers.
As life began to return to normal — with schools and offices reopening, traffic easing and public transport restarting — the authorities in Spain have yet to provide further explanations for what caused one of the most serious blackouts to ever take place in Europe.
Emergency workers in Spain said they had rescued some 35,000 passengers on Monday stranded along railways and underground
A policeman uses a megaphone to tell travelers to vacate the area in front of Atocha rail station during a massive power cut affecting the entire Iberian peninsula and the south of France, in Madrid on April 28, 2025
People wait in front of Atocha rail station during a massive power cut
By 11 a.m. Tuesday, service on Madrid’s metro system was fully restored. In Barcelona, the system was operating normally, but commuter trains were suspended due to ‘electrical instability,’ the company that runs the service, Rodalies Catalunya, said on X.
In some parts of the country, commuter and mid-distance services were still suspended or running at reduced capacity.
Emergency workers in Spain said they had rescued some 35,000 passengers on Monday stranded along railways and underground, with the blackout turning sports centers, train stations and airports into makeshift overnight refuges.
