A serious mobile network outage occurred in Spain, affecting the entire country. This event happened just four weeks after widespread power outages impacted many regions. Numerous media outlets reported on the incident.
Mobile connectivity issues were detected across all major operators, including Movistar, Orange, Vodafone, Digimobil, and O2. Customers were unable to make calls, send SMS messages, or use mobile internet. According to data from the DownDetector service, disruptions began around 5 a.m.
The outage affected most major cities, including Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga, Seville, and Bilbao. Many people reported a complete lack of signal and difficulties accessing the internet.
The situation was especially critical for emergency service phone lines. In some regions of the country, the pan-European number 112 became unavailable. The Valencian government quickly established an alternative emergency service number, while the 112 service in Aragon reported line failures and provided three alternative contact numbers.
Additionally, some companies faced serious issues that led to system lockouts, complicating software downloads and computer connections.
The cause of this widespread outage was a major technical incident in the network of Telefónica, Spain’s largest mobile operator, which also operates in 18 other countries. According to reports, the failure occurred due to errors during the update of network equipment.
A Telefónica representative confirmed that the network upgrade work affected fixed-line services, including voice communication and internet. He also noted that the company is actively working to resolve the problems, and some services, including the 112 emergency service, have already been restored.
This incident occurred just weeks after a massive power outage on the Iberian Peninsula on April 28, when millions of people in Spain and Portugal were left without electricity for about 10 hours. At that time, the Spanish government ruled out a cyberattack as a possible cause of the outage.
