Trains across Spain came to a standstill due to a power outage. Three commuters recounted their personal experiences.
On Monday evening, June 30, 2025, a power outage disrupted high-speed train services in Spain, causing numerous delays and stranding hundreds of passengers. The root cause of the outage was a failure in the overhead catenary system, specifically a loss of electrical tension in the lines between the municipalities of Yeles and La Sagra in the province of Toledo.
This incident, which occurred around 8:50 p.m. local time, led to the suspension of all AVE and Avant high-speed train services along the affected stretch, immobilizing dozens of long-distance trains, including those connecting Madrid with Seville, Malaga, Granada, and Cadiz.
As a result, passengers found themselves in unexpected situations. Alvaro Agustin, a doctor, was traveling from Gijón to Valencia when his high-speed train came to a halt in a tunnel. Erika Sanchez, on the other hand, was traveling from Barcelona to Madrid when her train stopped "in the middle of nowhere."
Passengers on Agustin's train experienced various challenges, including an anxiety attack from a 15-year-old girl and a clogged toilet that caused an odor to seep into the car. However, volunteers provided food for approximately 800 passengers at a nearby gymnasium, and some passengers shared power banks and food with each other.
Meanwhile, Erika Sanchez's partner informed her about a power outage affecting colleagues across Spain. To make matters worse, the emergency batteries on her train ran out, plunging the car into darkness. Despite these challenges, Erika found solace in playing cards and chatting with fellow passengers for several hours.
A young woman offered Erika a ride to Madrid, and she arrived home 12 hours later than anticipated. Unfortunately, Paquita Gonzalez, who was hoping to catch another train to her home in Cadiz, stayed at Barcelona's main train station through the night but was too stressed and nervous to doze off, as service had already been suspended.
Emergency units of soldiers arrived to distribute water and share news of the blackout across Spain and Portugal. The train conductor opened the doors to let air circulate and conserve battery power. Eventually, an auxiliary locomotive arrived to rescue the passengers, and the train moved, arriving at a station in Guadalajara, where another train had also been diverted.
Power was restored shortly after 10:00 p.m., but delays continued as traffic was managed on a single track while full operations were resumed. This catenary cable malfunction or failure in the railway's overhead electrical system directly caused the power outage that paralysed high-speed train services in that region of Spain on that Monday evening.
In the aftermath of the power outage, travel plans were disrupted for many, such as Erika Sanchez who found herself traveling from Barcelona to Madrid "in the middle of nowhere." Despite the challenge, Erika passed the time playing cards and chatting with fellow passengers, demonstrating resilience in the face of adversity. Meanwhile, sports enthusiast Alvaro Agustin, traveling from Gijón to Valencia, faced challenges like a clogged toilet and anxious passengers, underscoring the unexpected twists that can arise in one's lifestyle during travel.
