Spain was hit by a widespread telecommunications outage early Tuesday that disrupted emergency services and internet connectivity across much of the country. The disruption comes just weeks after a major power blackout paralyzed large swathes of Spain and neighboring Portugal, raising renewed concerns about the country’s digital and physical infrastructure.
The outage, which began around 5 a.m., knocked out landlines and internet access, including critical emergency numbers like 112. Telefónica, Spain’s leading telecom provider, confirmed that a scheduled network upgrade had triggered the failure. Other major providers such as Movistar, Orange, Vodafone, and O2 also experienced service disruptions, according to monitoring site Downdetector.
Several regions including Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, and Bilbao reported complete signal loss. Emergency services in regions like Aragón, Valencia, and the Basque Country scrambled to provide backup mobile numbers on social media for urgent calls. In Catalonia and Extremadura, authorities activated contingency plans to maintain public safety.
Telefónica issued a statement apologizing for the inconvenience, stating that its engineers were working urgently to restore full service. By mid-morning, Spain’s Minister for Digital Transformation, Óscar López, announced that most services had been restored and thanked Telefónica for its rapid response.
“We’ve been in contact with Telefónica since the first hour,” López said at a news conference. “All the incidents have now been resolved.”
With over 41 million users, Telefónica controls much of Spain’s fixed-line infrastructure. The scale of the outage, combined with the recent power blackout, has intensified scrutiny over Spain’s preparedness for large-scale infrastructure failures.
While the Balearic Islands remained mostly unaffected, limited connectivity issues were reported in the Canary Islands. Regional broadcaster RTVC and local governments continued sharing emergency contact alternatives as a precaution.
Last month’s power outage, which lasted 18 hours, halted metro and train services, disabled traffic lights, and shut down businesses, affecting an estimated 50 million people across the Iberian Peninsula.
As investigations into both incidents continue, Spanish authorities face mounting pressure to improve infrastructure resilience and emergency preparedness in an increasingly connected world.
Bd-pratidin English/ Jisan
