Power outage halts Madrid Open matches

Matches at the Madrid Open were halted on April 28 after a widespread power outage hit the Spanish capital, forcing 15th seed Grigor Dimitrov and his British opponent Jacob Fearnley off the court. 

The outage caused the scoreboards to go dark and overhead cameras to lose power, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

The round of 32 match at Manolo Santana Stadium, where Dimitrov led Fearnley 6-4, 5-4, was interrupted due to a spidercam hanging too close to the court. Fourth seed Coco Gauff, who defeated Belinda Bencic 6-4, 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals, had her post-match interview at the Arantxa Sanchez Stadium cut short as the microphone lost power.

The power cut also disrupted the electronic line-calling systems, while spectators shared images of dark hallways at the Manzanares Park Tennis Centre. Matteo Arnaldi, who had shocked Novak Djokovic on Saturday, was leading 6-3, 3-2 against Damir Dzumhur when the match was stopped. 

"We are working to restore normality as soon as possible," the Madrid Open account posted on X. Local media indicated that the power outage also affected traffic lights, some airports, and parts of the Madrid underground system.

Spanish power grid operator Red Electrica stated that it was collaborating with energy companies to restore power. 

After a massive blackout plunged Spain into chaos, efforts are now underway to restore power across the country, with crews working tirelessly in both the north and south to bring normalcy back to millions of affected residents. 

The blackouts, which began around 12:15 pm (GMT+2), have severely affected nearly all of Spain and Portugal, with additional reports indicating disruptions in parts of France, Andorra, and Belgium. In Madrid and Lisbon, several metro and rail passengers were left stranded, while international airports in both cities, along with others across the Iberian Peninsula, were forced to close. 

“Power restoration plans have been activated in collaboration with industry companies following the power outage on the [Iberian] peninsula,” Red Electrica stated. 

Speculation surrounding the cause of the blackouts includes concerns over Spain’s integration of renewable energy into the European power grid. While some critics suggest this may have triggered the blackout, the exact cause remains unclear. Red Electrica had reported that renewable energy sources met Spain's electricity demand for the first time ever, as part of the country’s “ecological transition.” Further theories point to a potential cyber attack, especially in light of increased threats to Europe’s energy grid following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. 

Additionally, a fire in southern France, reportedly damaging a high-voltage powerline, could have contributed to the outages, according to Portugal’s national electric company REN. A sharp drop in power demand at 12:15 pm, from 27,500MW to around 15,000MW, was visible on Red Electrica's website, indicating that more than half of Spain may have been left without power. 

As Spanish ministers convene an emergency session to discuss the crisis, social media posts from affected areas show the extent of the disruption, with passengers trekking through dark metro tunnels and reports of widespread panic in Lisbon.

By Naila Huseynova