Three-hour blackout hits central Madrid: whole streets went dark at noon

Around 12:00 on Tuesday, everything switched off at Irene Álvarez's home in Madrid's Palacio district. Then she looked out of the window: the traffic lights on her street weren't showing any colour.

She wasn't alone. Residents of Vistillas, Bailén and the Plaza Mayor area reported the same thing in WhatsApp groups and on social media.

What happened?

The power cut hit whole streets in the historic centre, such as Cava de San Miguel and Calle Mayor. Ricardo Bustos, head of a residents' association for the Plaza Mayor area, says every business was without electricity and lifts were out of service.

For some people, power returned around 15:00. Others, like Álvarez, only got it back after 17:30. Pablo García says his aunt noticed repeated cuts from 11:00 to 13:00, with the light coming and going before it went out completely.

Naturgy, the electricity company, says it was a medium-voltage fault and that supply has been restored. Madrid's City Council confirmed the outage but said it had no further details. Emergency services said they had received no alerts.

Shops, restaurants and a library in the dark

The Iván de Vargas library had to close its doors. Its backup generator only lasted a couple of hours. Some users kept working on laptops by emergency lighting, and the centre was affected from 13:15 to 16:15.

At Taberna del Pimiento Verde, near the Plaza Mayor, the grills stopped working. The kitchen served only cold dishes for three hours, until 16:15. The nearby Mercado de San Miguel lost power at the same time, and the fuses on that street tripped three more times once power returned.

Why does it feel familiar?

The scene reminded many of the blackout of 28 April 2025, when Spain and Portugal lost electricity for hours and transport, communications and services were disrupted. This time it was local, and the cause was a fault in the network.

The restaurant now expects a normal dinner service, with its full menu available.