Global News Podcast - What caused the mass power cut in Spain and Portugal?

Episode Date: April 29, 2025

Officials investigate mass power blackouts in Portugal and Spain, but cyberattack ruled out. Also: Mark Carney's Liberal Party wins the Canadian election, and the mysterious hum annoying Scottish islanders.

This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Andrew Peach and at 13h GMT on Tuesday 29th April these are our main stories. A cyber attack is ruled out as the governments of Spain and Portugal look into the causes of Monday's huge power failure. We'd like to reassure the citizens that they have the absolute guarantee that we will overcome this, We will demand accountability to private service operators if that is necessary. Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney wins the election and says Donald Trump will never break his country. We are over the shock of the American betrayal but we should never forget the lessons. We have to look out for ourselves.

We have to look out for ourselves. Also in this podcast, we look back at US President Donald Trump's first hundred days in office and the so-called Bitcoin lady spreading knowledge of cryptocurrencies across Africa. In Spain and Portugal, the lights may be back on, but attention is turning to how such a massive power outage could have happened in the first place. It affected tens of millions of people causing travel chaos, shops to close and communication problems. Pretty much everyone has confirmed it wasn't a cyber attack but very little seems to be known about why Spain and Portugal became disconnected from the European grid. The Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez gave an update on Tuesday afternoon, voiced here by an interpreter. The crisis clearly is not yet over. Our objective is to continue our investigations, continue researching what is at the origin

of this electricity crisis. We need to go back to normality as soon as possible and we'd like to reassure the citizens that they have the absolute guarantee that we will overcome this. We will demand accountability to private service operators if that is necessary and we will then implement all measures necessary so as to ensure that this situation does not occur ever again. Javier Blast is an energy and commodities columnist at Bloomberg and outlined what investigators could be looking into.

What we know is at 12.33pm local time in Madrid yesterday, in about five seconds, 50 gigawatts of power disappear from the system. That's about seven or eight nuclear power reactors. It's a massive loss of power. Why in the few seconds after that, none of the safety measures failed to stop the cascade? Was it any fault on the design? Was it any human error? And when you rely a lot on solar, it can be a bit more difficult. Our correspondent Guy Hedgeco in Madrid has been telling me more about what the authorities have been saying. The government certainly is quite keen for people not to jump to conclusions as they

put it and the government itself is saying that they're keeping an open mind regarding the possible causes of this. However, we have heard also from Red Electrica, the company that manages the Spanish power grid today and one of their senior officials also talked about possible causes saying that according to a preliminary investigation they had done they do not believe it was a cyber attack and he talked about what he called two major disconnection events just before the the blackout happened and he also talked about the fact that they appear to happen in the southwest of the

country where a lot of Spain's solar power comes from. So I think there's a lot of attention focused on that part of the country, on solar generation, a lot of debate about whether that could have caused the blackout. But beyond that, we don't know much more. Certainly the attention seems to be moving away rather from the possibility that it was a cyber attack. Okay, there's a lot of talk everywhere about whether Spain is relying on too much solar power in the mix. Obviously a lot of people have got an agenda when they say that. How much truth might there be in that? Well Pedro Sanchez since he became Prime Minister 2018, he and his government, successive governments have really boosted Spain's reliance on, not just on solar power,

but also on renewables in general. That's been one of the big pillars of his government. He's very keen that Spain should make the green transition and that renewable energy is a huge part of that for him. We have heard some criticisms from the opposition conservatives saying, for example, today one of them said that Spain should be relying more or looking more at the possibility of nuclear energy and, for example, extending the life of its nuclear plants and saying that if Spain had done that in recent years, perhaps this might not have happened. Mr. Sánchez has rejected that saying that that wouldn't have helped the country recover

from this blackout. But certainly this does seem to have opened up a broader debate about Spain's reliance on energy, what kinds of energy it does rely on and whether it needs to diversify more. And although we're already in the sort of investigation phase of trying to find out what went wrong and most power is back on, just give me a sense of what disruption people in Spain are still experiencing. Well, the worst disruption I think is still public transport and the rail

service and I mean even the Prime Minister acknowledged this when he was speaking earlier on. There are a number of areas of the country where services are really pretty bad. So Galicia up in the northwest, in Catalonia in the northeast, local rail services were quite poor throughout this morning. I think they're still very much disrupted. And even here in Madrid, there were big crowds in some of the bigger railway stations where people were trying to work out what was going on. There was a lot of chaos still this morning in those stations as the rail companies tried to get on top of things. Guy Hedgeco with me from Madrid.

The Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carly has declared victory in the general election which took place in the shadow of Donald Trump's trade war and repeated threats to annex the country. Addressing supporters in the capital Ottawa, Mr. Carney said Canada was facing a new reality and should never forget the lessons of what he called America's betrayal. Our old relationship with the United States, a relationship based on steadily increasing integration is over. The system of open global trade anchored by the United States, a system that Canada has relied on since the Second World War, a system that while not perfect has helped deliver

prosperity for a country for decades, is over. These are tragedies, but it's also our new reality. We are over. We are over the shock of the American betrayal. But we should never forget the lessons. We have to look out for ourselves and above all we have to take care of each other. Mr. Carney's main rival the Conservative Party leader

Pierre Polyvier is now projected to have lost his seat in Parliament. Our Chief International Correspondent Lise Dessette is in Ottawa. She's been giving me her assessment of Mark Carney's achievement. Here's a man who has only been in politics for a few months. And I remember Andrew when he made it clear he was going to run for the leadership of the Liberal Party and therefore become first of all the acting prime minister. So many political insiders said, well, he has no experience as a retail politician. How is he going to fare against a very experienced career politician, Pierre Poliev, who's had two decades of experience.

But there he is, Mark Carney, on the stage, surrounded by his supporters, and he not only thanked his supporters and those who voted for him, but he made a point many times in that speech of addressing those, the millions who didn't vote for him, and emphasizing that he will be the Prime Minister for all Canadians. It's an incredible turnaround this. A few short months ago Canada was fed up of Justin Trudeau, fed up of the Liberal Party and ready for a change and they've voted for exactly the opposite, continuity Carney. Well Prime Minister Carney didn't present himself as continuity. It was interesting during the election campaign that his main rival,

Pierre Paulyev, and the others, but especially Pierre Paulyev, kept talking about the decade, the lost liberal decade. But Mark Carney kept saying, I only came to power a month ago as Prime Minister, I did this, I as Prime Minister, I did that, even though his rivals kept saying, well, your advisers in your government are still the old Justin Trudeau government. So he wants to see himself still as a change candidate. And I think his rivals will watch closely to see what new ideas he brings in.

But I think, Andrew, so many Canadians, they wanted at the helm this 60-year-old economist and central banker who can talk tariffs, can talk to Trump, wasn't called a governor by President Trump, was addressed as the Prime Minister. This is a very unique moment in Canada where many Canadians say without exaggeration it is an existential moment for Canada. They want someone who will be able to literally save this country, but they hope as well help it to prosper. So they've chosen a serious, solid figure in Mark Carney. It's so interesting to me that the whole election's been turned on its head by President Trump.

You have deep insight into the Canadian psyche. Being a native yourself, Lise, just give me your take on the extent to which Canada has been spooked by what's been going on with Trump. When President Trump first mentioned that Canada should be the 51st state and not just that, that Canadians would be much better off if they were Americans, Canadians thought it was a joke, but then President Trump kept talking about it. So then Canadians got really angry. Then they got defiant. And with an outpouring of patriotism that we've not seen in Canada. Canada is not really a country like the United States where flags are flying everywhere.

Everywhere I've traveled this time, I've seen so many more Canadian flags. It has galvanized Canadians, so much so that even in Quebec, which has long had its own distinctive culture and who have no love for the Liberal Party, in fact it was very unpopular there during the last government, have voted for the Liberal Party for Mark Carney because they know that it is a totally different kind of election. And that has been the pivotal nature of this election described as one of the most consequential in Canadian history. Lisa Set with me from Ottawa.

The human rights group Amnesty International is warning that our shared system of rights is under threat and that's being turbocharged by the Trump presidency. In its annual report Amnesty describes a global rollback in human rights defined by impunity and greed. More from Imogen folks. Amnesty has tough words for Donald Trump accusing him of showing utter contempt for human rights. The attacks on migrants or gender equality and diversity are examples. Globally such repression is not new. Amnesty points to the poor records of China or Russia, but Amnesty

believes that when the US once called the leader of the free world abandons hard-won rights, it's a green light for would-be dictators the world over. The report is especially critical of the war in Gaza, saying Israel is live-streaming genocide, while countries which should be defending international law have abandoned it. Israel rejects Amnesty's claims. The report also accuses the international community of indifference to the conflict in Sudan, where 13 million people have been displaced, sexual violence is rife and famine threatens. Ukraine's President Vladimir Zelenskyy has accused Russia of trying to manipulate and

deceive the world by declaring a three-day unilateral ceasefire for next week. The Kremlin says the pause in fighting will run from the 8th until the 10th of May. Millions of people in Ukraine are living just a few kilometres away from the front line of the war. It shifts and changes each day depending on the fighting. And the Ukrainian men whose job it is to repel Russian attacks are tired but determined. My colleague Anna Foster met two of them gathering vital supplies for the trenches. And Anna wanted to know what they thought about the US idea of achieving a ceasefire by freezing Ukraine and Russia's borders where they are now. This is an old rusty metal door into what is a really unassuming low brick building, but this is a really important location. It's actually quite a dangerous location as well.

This has been attacked multiple times because this is where they store, particularly a lot of medical equipment, which has been donated and soldiers when they can come here and they collect it to take it back to the front line. And the first thing that catches your eye when you walk in is this big box of tourniquets. These are absolutely vital. These can save lives when people have lost a limb in an attack on the front line. There's lots of those, maybe 50 or so in this box. And then there are various bits of quite basic medical equipment

actually, but the sort of thing that they are getting through at pace and they really need. medical equipment actually but the sort of thing that they are getting through at pace and they really need. What's this one? Oh this is a mask, an oxygen mask, still wrapped in plastic, brand new. All of this is just vital and it's getting used so quickly and a couple of the soldiers are just about to arrive and basically fit what they can in the vehicle and take it back with them. My name is Andrey, I am a call-signal guard, I serve in the National Guard, an artilleryman. Of course, it is hard for us because our families are here and we are on the front line. We and they are in different situations. The missiles reach here.

The city of Zaporizhzhia is being hit from all sides. Behind you was hit by eight kamikaze drones in one day. All civilians experience the same pain as we do. From our side we remember that our children, our grandchildren must live here. We do everything we can. We don't sleep. We work at full capacity.

We do everything we can and even more. We work and do everything we can and even more. When you hear that the plan for peace involves giving up Ukrainian territory to Russia, potentially freezing that front line where it is now, where you're fighting. What do you think of that? As a soldier from the occupied territory who left my home, friends, relatives, both living

and dead, and went to defend our native Ukraine on Ukrainian territory. We cannot agree to give up our territories. This is our life, our past, without tears, without sorrow. How can you come to the modern life, to the modern age, and take someone's house away? This is Ukraine. There is a constitution, a nationally accepted laws and rules of human existence. From my side, regarding the territories,

I had 11 hectares of land, on which I was building some plants, to grow grain, pumpkins, beets, everything you want could be grown. My ancestors on my father's side, all are buried on that side. I can't even visit their graves. Since 2022, I haven't been able to visit my grandmother, grandfather, father, my uncle. All are there. They need someone to look after the graves, to care for them. So we have been deprived not only of territories but also of agriculture, farms. Of course everyone wants to

get back what belongs to them. It was all laid down by our ancestors. down by our ancestors. That report from my colleague Anna Foster in Ukraine. And still to come in the Global News Podcast. I'd kind of describe it as imagine blowing over the top of a bottle. It can be heard all over the island and we have no idea why. A mysterious humming noise tormenting the people of a Scottish island. Donald Trump is holding a rally later to mark a hundred days since his return to the White House. The event will be held in Michigan,

one of the key battleground states he flipped from the Democrats last year. The president has described his first hundred days as historic, but they certainly haven't been plain sailing. North America correspondent Nomia Iqbal is in Texas looking at the two main issues that got Donald Trump elected and on which polls show Americans will judge him, immigration and the economy. Obviously, some of the illegal aliens or smugglers cut through the Constantina wire and if you look he cut a perfect hole through the fence.

The weather is baking hot here on the banks of the Rio Grande, the natural border separating Mexico and the US. Every morning they're out here looking to see where there is an entry made and like right here they made it across. Agents like Mickey Donaldson work to stop people trying to make it over illegally. When we were seeing 2,000 plus people crossing a day it was very difficult. All of our resources were overwhelmed. Agent Donaldson says it was tough during Biden's presidency, but now things have changed.

The numbers have dropped significantly from catching 2,000 people a day, now we're catching about 40 people a day. So what's different now? Right, so the infrastructure, the technology is extremely important and us having that 100% situational awareness and us helping deter aliens from coming across, but the consequences is what really has been, I believe, the main help of being able to send people back to their countries swiftly. You have to have the consequences on the back end. Right now it's really quiet. There's nobody here, but it was a very different

story last year and you can see the remnants of that. There's so many personal items scattered about, towels, underwear, someone's big bag is stuck in one of those metal coils that are supposed to deter people from getting through. President Trump has brought the numbers down, even more so than President Biden did. Mr Trump considers his actions here as a success. But what happens on the border doesn't stay on the border. Yes, sure.

My name is Karma Chavez and I'm a professor and department chair. More than 200 miles away, Professor Karma Chavez's international students here in Austin are scared. Recently, there have been some high-profile arrests of those in the US on visas, particularly those who are critical of the government's support of Israel. I think there's a lot of folks who aren't even feeling safe to go to their classes. I know one student for example who already chose to quote unquote self-deport because it just felt safer to get out of here because they were very involved in protests and organizing over the last couple of

years. Do you worry about speaking out? Yeah absolutely. I know that it's a big risk, even though it's my right to do so. I'm pretty confident I'll probably lose my job in the next couple months to a couple years. Nearly half of Americans are happy with how Donald Trump's handling immigration, although they do question some of the methods. He did make another promise to them. So when I win, I will immediately bring prices down starting on day one. It will all happen very quickly. This will rapidly drive prices down, lower interest rates and put more money into the pockets of American consumers.

It will also bring your grocery bill way down. We've come to San Antonio. It's a business city that has been hit by tariffs. But go to the local supermarkets and there's any one thing on people's minds. Groceries are very high. All of my stuff that I buy is up higher. The hundred days you've been in has been terrible. The cost of living right now is a lot. Closing and gas, especially gas right now. It's ridiculous. So we're having to kind of like, you know, work a tight budget just to be able to go shopping. So everything's kind of expensive. President Trump says he's going to bring the cost of groceries out.

I hope so. Do you think he will? Yes, he's doing a great job. Right now it feels a little shaky. You know, the stock market and everything kind of plunging a little bit, but he says that's just temporary and it'll go back up. Everything will be back to normal. President Trump has brought the tide of change he promised,

although it's more like a tsunami. Americans have given him a historically low approval rating of 41 percent, but there's little sign he will change course as he continues to try and bend America to his will. Our correspondent Nomi Iqbal in Texas. At least nine people are reported to have been killed in sectarian clashes near the Syrian capital Damascus. The violence pitted armed members of the Druze minority against gunmen from sunny areas. Here's Charles Haviland.

The clashes came after a recording surfaced, said to feature a Druze person insulting the Prophet Muhammad. The Sunni assailants were initially said to be backed by security forces, but the Islamist-led government says it will pursue both sets of gunmen. Heavy gunfire continued as Druze elders met the security forces to prevent escalation. Both sides appealed for calm and a Druze leader condemned any insulting of Islam. Across the world cryptocurrency has been hailed as a financial solution by some and condemned as a gamble by others. In Africa countries like Nigeria and Kenya have seen big wins and devastating losses while Botswana is still figuring the

digital currency out. With no clear rules, the risks are high. A woman from Gaborone, known as the Bitcoin Lady, has made it her mission to use the internet to spread her knowledge for the use of cryptocurrencies. Here's Anukumu. Across Africa, the promise of cryptocurrency is both alluring and risky. For some, it's an easy means for financial gain. For others, it's a gamble that has left them with lost fortunes and uncertainty.

I was actually invited by a friend, a church mate. She was telling me that it is an investment, an online investment. We had put in $200. They claimed that we will earn 1% on a daily basis. Three months into the investment, the withdrawals were disabled. We couldn't access the platform. That's when we realized that we have been scammed. Kowni's story is not unique, and globally, governments are regulating crypto use. Nigeria has banned banks from facilitating its transaction over money laundering fears. Kenya is considering tighter regulations due to rising cases of fraud.

Even China, one of the world's leading economies, has banned its trading entirely. Despite its potential, Bitcoin operates in a regulatory gray area in Botswana. Authorities have issued warnings regarding crypto-related fraud, yet there's no official framework governing its use. Despite the regulatory uncertainty, for one woman, it has been both opportunity and risk. Anna Kanani's journey into the world of cryptocurrency began when she tried looking for a way to save her child's life. She did make money but she also lost some and today she uses her knowledge to

teach others like these farmers in Uganda learning how to integrate blockchain technology into agriculture. I teach people different types of things, teaching people that Bitcoin of course is money. You can be able to hold your money and you know use it as some kind of store value, but at the same time there is that innovation, that's technology called blockchain, which you can use to create innovations that will change the financial space. Studies in Botswana show that 65 percent of cryptocurrency users are between the ages of 25 and 35, attracted by low transaction fees and easy access, especially in rural areas

where traditional banks are scarce. But without proper education and regulation, it remains risky and open to fraud. The uptake, especially around where we live, is still pretty much low due to the fact that people don't really understand its utility. So as a result, people fall into the trap of thinking they're investing in Bitcoin, whereas they're being pulled into the run of the mill for a scheme of, you know, promises of high returns in a few days. While governments decide whether to regulate it, embrace it or reject it for others like Ala Kanani and her students, it's a chance at economic inclusion,

a way to break free from financial limitations. Anne Okumu reporting. A mysterious noise has been tormenting islanders in the Outer Hebrides off the northwest coast of Scotland. For several months, islanders are the Outer Hebrides off the northwest coast of Scotland. For several months islanders are hearing a constant low-frequency humming day and night. It's called the Hebridean Hum and no one can quite work out where it's coming from. Justine Green reports. The dramatic landscape and beautiful beaches of the Outer Hebrides just off the northwest coast of Scotland are idyllic and home

to a variety of seabirds, seals and otters. But the piece of the usually tranquil islands have been disrupted by a constant droning. More than 200 islanders have heard the mysterious sound which has been measured at the low frequency of 50 hertz. Lauren Grace Kirtley lives on the Isle of Lewis and has been hearing the strange sounds for months. I can't reproduce the noise. I just can't get low enough. I'd kind of describe it as imagine blowing over the top of a bottle. It can be heard all over the island. The Isle of Lewis is literally humming and we have no idea why. Marcus Hazel McGowan, who moved to Lewis a few weeks ago, turned detective,

using his amateur radio expertise to try to find the source. We did hope it was the power station and we thought it was the turbines initially and there was some problems there and they're back up running again from the mainland link. But even then we've still got this noise, it's not fixed it at all. We've gone looking at all of the boats in the ocean. We've done practically everything. Amateur sleuthing hasn't been able to find out where the humming is coming from and investigations by environmental health teams have proved fruitless. So no-one knows what's causing it or how to stop the headaches, dizziness and sleepless nights it's causing. And that was Justine Green reporting.

That's all from us for now. There'll be a new edition of Global News Download later. We are planning a special Conclave edition of the podcast answering your questions about how the new Pope will be chosen. We'll be examining the process, the timetable, who looks likely to succeed Pope Francis and what changes might be in store for the Roman Catholic Church. So do send us your question either as a voice note or an email, globalpodcastatbbc.co.uk. This edition was mixed by Masood Ibrahim Halil, the producer was Isabella Jewell, the editor is Karen Martin. I'm Andrew Peach, thank you for listening and until next time, goodbye.