Doha – Orange Maroc reported significant disruptions to its internet services on Monday, as a massive power outage swept across Spain and Portugal.
The telecommunications company announced via its social media accounts that the service interruption stems from the extensive blackout affecting the Iberian Peninsula, which has damaged the international links used by the operator.
“Perturbation of Internet traffic following the massive power outage in Spain and Portugal affecting international links. Thank you for your understanding,” Orange Maroc stated in a brief communication to its customers.
The disruption mainly stems from a failure of Orange Maroc’s connections via servers located in Spain.
The power failure, which began around midday local time, has impacted the entire Spanish and Portuguese mainland, with effects also briefly reaching parts of southern France.
The outage has crippled transportation networks across the region, causing gridlock as traffic lights failed, halting trains, and delaying flights.
Portuguese grid operator REN has attributed the blackout to a “rare atmospheric phenomenon” related to temperature variations, specifically describing it as “induced atmospheric vibration” that caused synchronization failures between electrical systems.
“Due to extreme temperature variations in the interior of Spain, there were anomalous oscillations in the very high voltage lines,” REN explained, adding that full normalization of the network “could take up to a week.”
Meanwhile, Spain’s electricity transmission operator Red Eléctrica estimated that restoring power could take between six and ten hours. The company has begun recovery efforts in northern and southern parts of Spain, calling this “key to gradually restoring the electricity supply.”
The widespread outage has paralyzed daily life across the region. In Madrid, Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida urged residents to minimize movement and only call emergency services for truly urgent matters. “We want to keep all roads clear,” he said in a video posted on social media.
Orange Maroc did not specify when its services would return to normal operation, as the situation depends on the restoration of the electrical infrastructure in Spain, where many of its server connections are located.
French grid operator RTE has stepped in to help, already re-supplying 700 MW of Spanish consumption with plans to increase aid as soon as the Iberian grid can receive it.
