Elon Musk has offered a potential solution to a massive outage that has disrupted internet, electricity, and phone services in Spain, Portugal, and France. In response to a user's distress about communication difficulties, especially during a family member's surgery, Musk recommended using Tesla Powerwall and Starlink on the social media platform X (earlier Twitter). This comes after a widespread blackout shuttered airports, halted metro and rail networks in Madrid, Barcelona and Lisbon, and disrupted mobile phone networks, prompting thousands to flock outdoors with smartphones raised high in search of a signal. The blackout has also affected Madrid Open matches as scoreboards went dark and overhead cameras lost power, forcing players and fans to clear the stands and suspend play.
What Elon Musk said about the Spain power outage
A Spanish user took to X to write about the problems people are facing in the outage-affected areas: “Spain has been without internet, light, electricity or phone calls for almost 3h. I can’t communicate with my family. My grandpa was in the middle of a surgery and I can’t contact them. This is crazy.”
Replying to this, the tech billionaire wrote: “Tesla Powerwall plus Starlink should still work.”
What officials have said about the outage
Spain’s grid operator Red Eléctrica and Portugal’s REN convened crisis committees, deployed backup generators at hospitals and airports, and worked with the European Commission and national cybersecurity institutes to probe the cause. Authorities warned that full restoration could take six to ten hours, even as partial power returned in some regions.
The outage has also prompted alarm over a potential cyberattack—something international security experts have long warned could be wielded as a weapon of war. However, European Commission Executive VP Teresa Ribera, a former Spanish minister, stressed that there is currently no indication of sabotage or hacking.
“We are investigating with utmost caution to determine the specific causes of this incident, one of the most serious in Europe in recent times,” Ribera said.
Tesla Powerwall plus Starlink should still work
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 28, 2025
What Elon Musk said about the Spain power outage
A Spanish user took to X to write about the problems people are facing in the outage-affected areas: “Spain has been without internet, light, electricity or phone calls for almost 3h. I can’t communicate with my family. My grandpa was in the middle of a surgery and I can’t contact them. This is crazy.”
Replying to this, the tech billionaire wrote: “Tesla Powerwall plus Starlink should still work.”
What officials have said about the outage
Spain’s grid operator Red Eléctrica and Portugal’s REN convened crisis committees, deployed backup generators at hospitals and airports, and worked with the European Commission and national cybersecurity institutes to probe the cause. Authorities warned that full restoration could take six to ten hours, even as partial power returned in some regions.
The outage has also prompted alarm over a potential cyberattack—something international security experts have long warned could be wielded as a weapon of war. However, European Commission Executive VP Teresa Ribera, a former Spanish minister, stressed that there is currently no indication of sabotage or hacking.
“We are investigating with utmost caution to determine the specific causes of this incident, one of the most serious in Europe in recent times,” Ribera said.
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