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Date Published: 29/04/2025

Alicante Airport weathers the blackout with all flights operating normally

The power outage caused train services in Alicante to grind to a halt, with dozens of passengers trapped on board

While the blackout on Monday April 28 brought chaos to many parts of Spain, Alicante-Elche Airport managed to keep its operations running smoothly. According to Aena sources, the airport's backup generators kicked in after the power failure, allowing flights to take off and land as scheduled.

As of early Tuesday morning, with eight Spanish regions still under a state of emergency, only four cancellations have been reported, affecting flights to Newcastle, Dublin, Paris and Barcelona.

Despite the disruptions elsewhere, the airport's runways and boarding areas were largely unaffected. The only hiccups were some delays on arrival but overall, it was a fairly normal day for air travel in Alicante.

Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for train passengers, who were left stranded when Renfe cancelled its services. At around 12.30pm, train and Tram traffic in Alicante came to a grinding halt, with security control at the entrance to the tracks paralysed.

The situation remained uncertain until 3.22pm, when Renfe announced that services would be suspended until at least 6pm.

Now read: Cyberattack, Net Zero or freak weather accident? Cause of Spain's mystery power outage remains unclear

One of the most dramatic incidents occurred when a high-speed train from Madrid's Chamartín station stopped suddenly just as it was arriving at Alicante station. The train, which was carrying dozens of passengers, including families with young children, was stuck in the tunnel for hours.

According to passengers, staff on the train handed out water and did their best to keep everyone calm while they waited for rescue.

While Alicante Airport escaped the brunt, Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport and El Prat Airport in Barcelona weren’t so lucky. The blackout, which began around noon, affected check-in, passenger control and communications systems at several terminals, causing delays and disruptions to flights.

Although flights into and out of Barcelona are reportedly operating normally again this Tuesday morning, more than 100 travellers were forced to spend the night in the airport.

Also of interest: Milk? Yoghurts? Meat? Here’s the food you should throw away after the blackout

Image: AENA

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