Spain and Portugal have been hit by widespread power outages, bringing several major cities to a standstill.

According to reports, Valencia and Barcelona were rendered completely without power. In addition, the Spanish rail network was forced to shut down, and Internet service across Spain and Portugal was severely impacted.

Exact information on what caused the blackouts has yet to be revealed. However, it seems to have impacted most cities in Spain and Portugal, as well as some regions in France. Domestic reports have pinned blame on the European electrical grid, in addition to a fire on Alaric Mountain in southwestern France, which led to damage to a high-voltage power line.

Portuguese grid operator E-Redes attributed the outage to “a problem with the European electricity system” and said it had to cut power in specific areas to stabilize the network.

Other major cities impacted by the outage include Madrid, Lisbon, Seville, Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga, Bilbao, and Cadiz.

Spanish grid operator Red Electrica said it is currently working with energy companies to restore power. It recently reported that it had begun to recover power in the north and south of the country, signaling that power is expected to be restored gradually rather than all at once.

“The causes are being analyzed and all resources are being dedicated to solving it,” the company said in a social media statement. Reports recently surfaced that it could take between six to ten hours to fully restore power.

The impact on the peninsula’s data center market is unknown. Spain currently has 156 operational data centers, with 41 operational in Portugal. During outages, data centers usually rely on diesel standby generators, which can typically run for between 24-48 hours, depending upon fuel availability.

The Iberian Peninsula, which encompasses both countries, has become a hub for data center activity in recent years. Its ample land availability, growing connectivity, and plethora of low-carbon power options have led hyperscalers such as AWS and Microsoft to set up shop in the region.