Spanish island hit by power outage as thousands left in the dark

The island was not affected by the massive blackout that hit most of Spain and Portugal on April 28

A power outage hit several areas of the Spanish island of La Palma in the Canary Islands on Thursday, the local council said in a post on the social media platform X.

Early reports suggested that a third of La Palma had been left without electricity, impacting around 30,000 people. The council urged everyone to remain calm and avoid overwhelming emergency services.

La Radio Canaria reports that power has since been fully restored.

The island was not affected by the massive blackout that hit most of Spain and Portugal on April 28.

Spain has asked its own investigators and European Union regulators to investigate the cause of the outage, but whatever the findings, analysts and industry representatives say infrastructure investment is essential.

People wait outside a closed train station during a major power outage in Barcelona, Spain (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

"The blackout was a wake-up call. It showed that the need to modernise and reinforce Europe’s electricity grid is urgent and unavoidable," Kristina Ruby, secretary general at Eurelectric, Europe's electricity industry association, said.

The European Union's power grid mostly dates back to the last century and half the lines are over 40 years old.

Rising low-carbon energy production and booming demand from data centres and electric vehicles require an overhaul of the grids that also need digital protection to withstand cyber attacks.