Unplugged: What The Business World Can Learn from the Spanish Power Outage

On April 28th, 2025, nationwide blackouts across Spain, Portugal, Andorra, and in parts of southern France ground businesses to a halt and left millions without power.

Multiple reports from official sources have confirmed that the blackout has left critical infrastructure like telecommunications, railways, and Madrid's Barajas international airport without power, bringing flights to a standstill. Domestic media has reported that a fire in the south west of France may have damaged a high-voltage line, critical to the European electric grid.

While it is impossible to prepare for every potential situation that could hinder your business and shut it down. Having a versatile business continuity plan is the failsafe needed to keep things moving when faced with the unexpected. Having a power outage at the national level has highlighted some key lessons on how individual businesses can prepare to protect themselves.

Business Continuity Lessons

1. Infrastructure Vulnerability

This event demonstrates how dependent businesses are on critical infrastructure they don't control. The European electric grid failure shows that even sophisticated systems remain vulnerable, so ensuring workarounds are available gives businesses the independence they need to weather these unpredictable events.

2. Backup Power Is Non-Negotiable

For organizations with servers and delicate hardware, generators are non-negotiable, UPS systems, and redundant power supplies are weathering this crisis much better than unprepared competitors, and will save rebuilding critical data infrastructure when the power comes back on.

3. Geographic Redundancy Matters 

Companies with operations distributed across different regions face partial rather than total disruption. Additionally, organizations with flexible remote work policies can redirect operations to unaffected regions.

4. Communication Planning Is Essential

With telecommunications also affected, businesses with pre-established emergency communication protocols maintain better coordination between teams, ensuring employee safety and business continuity.

The Bottom Line: Proactive Business Continuity Planning

The Iberian power outage serves as a powerful reminder that comprehensive business continuity plans are vital for any business. Businesses building their continuity plan need to include a broad range of tools and systems, such as:

• Regular risk assessments that account for infrastructure failures
• Redundant systems for critical operations
• Clear emergency response procedures
• Regular testing of backup systems
• Employee training for crisis scenarios
• Insurance coverage for business interruption

Now is the perfect time to review continuity plans and ensure preparedness for future infrastructure failures in their regions. You can read more on how to achieve certified business continuity management or contact our team of experts to find out how to future-proof your business for the unexpected.