A failure in the high-voltage grid originating at a substation in Sant Andreu left some 90,000 customers in Barcelona and its metropolitan area without power on Thursday, April 30.
The incident, which affected homes, businesses, and public facilities, coincides with the first anniversary of the major national blackout, a memory that has shaped the reaction of affected residents in neighborhoods such as Nou Barris, Vilapiscina, and the municipality of Montcada.
A failure in the Sant Andreu infrastructure
The technical issue was traced to an electrical substation located in the Sant Andreu district. According to sources at Endesa, the problem in the high-voltage grid caused an immediate service outage that simultaneously affected tens of thousands of customers. This power outage comes exactly one year after a nationwide blackout left the country in the dark, an anniversary that has caused concern among residents who have once again lost power today.
Since the outage began, the company’s technical teams have taken steps to reroute the electrical load and minimize the impact on residents.Thanks to these initial interventions, the number of people affected dropped from the original 90,000 to 60,000 in just fifteen minutes. However , the full restoration process is still underway, as a significant portion of the population in the affected districts has not yet returned to normal in their homes and businesses.
Which neighborhoods were most affected
The power outage has been felt particularly intensely in the northern part of Barcelona. In addition to the Sant Andreu district, where the failure originated, neighborhoods such as Nou Barris and Vilapiscina have seen their daily activities disrupted since the early hours of the morning. The outage has also extended beyond the Catalan capital, significantly affecting the power supply in Montcada i Reixac. In these areas, service is gradually being restored as crews work to permanently resolve the fault in the high-voltage infrastructure.
This story will be updated with new information as it is confirmed.
