Spain sets up commission to probe blackout: PM

MADRID: Spain has set up a commission to investigate the causes of a sweeping blackout that paralysed the Iberian Peninsula, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Tuesday (Apr 29).

The announcement came as the country’s top criminal court announced a probe into possible “sabotage” of critical infrastructure.

Sanchez refused to rule out potential explanations and defended his government’s planned nuclear phase-out.

“All the necessary measures will be taken to ensure that this does not happen again,” he told a press conference a day after Spain and Portugal were plunged into darkness, cutting phone and internet access and stranding trains.

In its separate announcement, the top criminal court, the Audiencia Nacional, said it was investigating whether the blackout was “an act of computer sabotage on critical infrastructure” that could be classified as “a terrorism offence”.

Its announcement came after Spanish grid operator Red Electrica ruled out a cyberattack as the cause of the crisis.