Madrid, Spain - April 28, 2025 The blackout that hit Spain, Portugal, and France began around 12:30 p.m. on Monday. Citizens across the affected areas lost electricity and internet access. One of the most difficult situations was on the roads, where traffic lights stopped working. This created major traffic problems across cities. The National Police and Civil Guard reported on Tuesday that the night passed without incidents. Despite the scale of the outage, public order was maintained. The Interior Ministry had deployed around 15,000 National Police officers and a similar number from the Civil Guard. Their goal was to ensure safety and keep roads secure during the blackout. The Interior Minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, led a new meeting of the National Emergency Coordination Committee on Tuesday. The meeting took place at the Ministry headquarters. Eight regions requested an official declaration of emergency. These were Andalusia, Extremadura, Murcia, La Rioja, Madrid, Galicia, Castilla-La Mancha, and Valencia. Marlaska confirmed that emergency operations in those regions would now be directed by the Interior Ministry. Late Monday night, the minister announced that workers who could not reach their jobs due to transport problems would not lose any labor rights or pay. This also applies to workers who arrived at their jobs but could not work because of power or internet issues. The National Police used their aerial unit to monitor cities and traffic. This provided a clear view of road conditions and helped guide ground agents during the blackout.