Spain's high court to open investigation as to possible cyberattack, as business sector counts cost

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Spain’s High Court on Tuesday said it will be opening an investigation into Monday’s huge power outage to find out if a cyberattack against Spanish critical infrastructures may have caused the blackout in nearly all of the Iberian Peninsula.

Spanish grid operator Red Eléctrica had previously ruled out a cyberattack but the court has said that it will be investigating the cause.

Judge Jorge Calama would therefore be investigating it as a possible crime of terrorism, a court document showed, according to Spanish media.

Red Eléctrica in a statement on Monday night pointed to a ‘strong oscillation in the power flow’ which triggered ‘a very significant loss of generation’.

According to a Reuters news agency report, Aurora Energy analysts said the frequency of the grid dropped from the nominal 50Hz to 49.85Hz, triggering automatic emergency protocols.

‘The frequency decline likely began due to severe oscillations in high-voltage lines in southern France or inland Spain. Hypotheses include a physical fault (line disconnection), a sudden loss of generation within Spain or an atmospheric phenomenon,’ they said.

This loss of generation went beyond what the electrical systems are designed to handle and the Spanish grid was disconnected from the European system. The electrical system then collapsed, affecting both the Spanish and Portuguese systems, Red Eléctrica said.

Meanwhile, factories, stores and hotels across Spain and Portugal gradually returned to normal on Tuesday after the huge blackout that affected 60 million people across the Iberian peninsula, as business associations and companies began counting the cost. ALSO READ: Spain’s power supply almost fully restored after one of EU’s worst blackouts.

Spain’s main business lobby CEOE estimated the outage would cut 1.6 billion euros, or 0.1%, off GDP, noting it could take oil refineries a week or more to resume their operations fully, and that some industrial ovens had been damaged.

The meat industry estimated losses of up to 190 million euros as fridges lost power, among other factors. The blackout lasted more than 12 hours in some areas of Spain.

On Tuesday, most food stores were operating normally, the sector’s association ANGED said, but were still assessing how much of their produce had gone bad or how much business they had lost when card payment systems went offline and ATMs were out of order.

Many people rushed to buy water, canned food, flashlights and battery-powered radios to stay informed, but not everyone could find cash.

The Bank of Spain said payments by card resumed on Tuesday and ATMs were working.

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ALSO READ: Portugal’s REN denies claiming Iberian blackout caused by ‘rare atmospheric phenomenon’.

ALSO READ: Power blackout affects 60 million people across Spain and Portugal.