Several airports, including Madrid airport, which is Spain's busiest, had no electricity, El Mundo reported. Major cities including Barcelona, Seville and Valencia were without power. Parts of France were also affected by power loss.

A blackout has brought much of Spain and Portugal to a standstill, affecting millions of people. The Spanish power distributor calls it “exceptional and extraordinary." Power went down just after noon and by nightfall only half of the power had been restored in Spain.

Power and cell phone outages struck across the Iberian Peninsula and other portions of Europe Monday, with disruptions reported in Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Andorra and France.