Residents across La Palma woke to no electricity at all on Monday as torrential rain battered the east of the island. The cause isn’t known yet, though the island’s only main power line had already failed earlier that morning.

More than 50,500 customers lost power

The whole island of La Palma lost its electricity at around 6.40am local time on Monday November 2, in what the Canary Islands Government is calling a ‘cero energético’. Endesa, the company that distributes electricity on the island, said 50,508 customers were left without supply.

The Canary Islands Government’s emergencies department then declared an alert under its civil protection plan, known as PLATECA, so the agencies involved can be coordinated and the impact on essential services checked. Spain’s Territorial Policy Minister Ángel Víctor Torres said Madrid was in contact with the Canarian authorities.

The island’s only main power line was already down

The 66,000-volt Guinchos-Valle line, the only transmission line on La Palma, had suffered a fault earlier that morning. It’s run by the national grid operator Red Eléctrica. The Los Guinchos power station, the island’s diesel-fired plant, also disconnected for reasons that haven’t been explained yet. Red Eléctrica is now bringing supply back as the plant’s generating units reconnect, although by mid-morning it hadn’t given a time for full restoration. Red Eléctrica sources suggested the storm could be linked. However, Endesa hasn’t identified the cause.

La Palma isn’t connected to any other island or the mainland, which is why one failure can take everything down. The Canaries run on five separate electricity systems, so there’s nowhere to borrow power from either.

Rain topped 138 litres per square metre in 12 hours 

The blackout hit with the island already under the highest level of rain alert, in force since 2am. The Canary Islands Government recorded 62 litres per square metre in a single hour in the east of La Palma and 138 litres over 12 hours.

In Breña Alta and Breña Baja, water had to be pumped out of homes and businesses overnight, with some drains overflowing.

The rest of La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro are on alert, while Tenerife and Gran Canaria are on pre-alert. Very intense showers of more than 30mm an hour are possible on the western islands, most likely until 3pm, though authorities admit the forecast is uncertain. 

It’s not the first time La Palma has gone dark

A total blackout last hit the whole island in June 2025 and lasted more than three hours, as we reported at the time in our look at why the island keeps losing power. It was the first island-wide outage since September 2021, during the Tajogaite volcanic eruption, when 85,000 people lost power for 12 hours.

Back then, the Canary Islands Government blamed ageing generators at Los Guinchos. However, Red Eléctrica denied that the fault began at its own substation.

In July 2025, Endesa said it was the only company to bid in a state tender for new generation on the island, with diesel systems due to be replaced before 2029.

Authorities are telling residents to stay off the roads

Canary Islands president Fernando Clavijo said no one had been hurt, although there have been incidents from water building up. He urged people to avoid unnecessary journeys, stay away from flooded areas and use their cars as little as possible so emergency services can get through.

Updates on the restoration are being posted on the social media profiles of Red Eléctrica and 112 Canarias, the regional emergency service, so anyone on the island or with family there should check those first.

Residents across Malaga Province have been hit by electricity cuts, with faults affecting up to eight municipalities and more than 1,100 customers caught up in a separate overnight outage in Campanillas.

The latest problems were reported on Sunday, November 1, with interruptions affecting parts of Malaga city, Alhaurin de la Torre, Alhaurin el Grande, Marbella, Velez-Malaga, Nerja, Benamargosa and Benamocarra, with the interruptions attributed to faults on the local electricity distribution network.

The worst individual incident was reported in Santa Rosalía-Maqueda, in the Campanillas district of Malaga, where residents lost their electricity at approximately 9pm on Saturday, October 31.

According to the distribution network’s recorded data, 1,141 homes were initially affected. The initial restoration estimate provided by Endesa was 11am on Sunday, but residents were still reporting problems after that deadline. The other interruptions were recorded in separate locations, rather than being part of one province-wide blackout.

Where are the latest power cuts?

According to electricity distributor e-distribución, a subsidiary of Endesa, the reported faults covered several neighbourhoods and streets.

In Malaga city, affected locations included the historic centre, Camino Suárez, Calle Tomás de Cózar, near Plaza de La Merced, Calle Dos Aceras, Calle Hilera and the area around Calle Venegas.

Other reported locations included:

• Alhaurin de la Torre: Calle de Las Eras.
• Alhaurin el Grande: Parts of the San Anton neighbourhood, near Calle Molinos de Arriba.
• Marbella: Costabella, including Calle Costa del Sol.
• Velez-Malaga: Around Calle Aloe Vera and Rio Seco.
• Nerja: Avenida Castilla Pérez.
• Benamargosa and Benamocarra: Further interruptions were reported in both municipalities.

The faults were described as separate incidents affecting local sections of the distribution network. Not every resident in the eight municipalities was without electricity.

Residents can check the official e-distribución breakdown map for updates and estimated restoration times. The company’s free breakdown telephone number is 900 878 212.

Possible transformer fire behind overnight outage

The prolonged interruption in Santa Rosalía-Maqueda is being investigated separately. Local reports suggest that the incident may have involved a fire at an electrical transformer, with residents describing smoke and what they believed was an explosion near electrical equipment.

However, the precise circumstances have not been officially confirmed. The interruption began at approximately 9pm on Saturday, with e-distribución’s recorded start time given as 9.14pm. More than 1,100 customers were listed as affected.

The original restoration estimate of 11am on Sunday was not met, leaving residents concerned about how long repairs might take.

The incident is particularly concerning because residents had already complained about repeated electricity interruptions in the area. In May, there were almost daily power cuts in Santa Rosalía-Maqueda, usually lasting around four minutes and occurring around lunchtime.

Endesa subsequently installed additional protection equipment at the Campanillas substation in an attempt to resolve those earlier problems.

Why are electricity problems becoming a concern in Malaga?

The latest interruptions come against a background of growing concern about the capacity of Malaga’s electricity infrastructure. The province has experienced rapid residential, commercial and tourism development, but the expansion of its electricity distribution network has struggled to keep pace.

In October, Malaga Mayor Francisco de la Torre warned that insufficient electricity capacity was holding back major residential and industrial developments. Around 13,500 planned homes in Malaga city were reported to be affected by a lack of available electricity capacity.

The president of Malaga’s provincial government, Francisco Salado, also warned that the shortage was affecting investment and economic development, with approximately 25,000 homes across the province reportedly facing electricity supply constraints.

The problem is not necessarily a shortage of electricity being generated. Rather, there are concerns about the capacity of the transmission and distribution infrastructure to transport and deliver enough power where it is needed.

The issue is part of a wider national problem. EWN previously examined how electricity grid saturation is affecting Spain’s energy transition, with limited network capacity delaying new connections for businesses and renewable energy projects.

Overloaded transformers have already caused blackouts

There have also been examples of electricity interruptions directly linked to overloaded local networks. In July, approximately 300 residents in the Las Cañadas area of Mijas and neighbouring Fuengirola lost electricity following an overload in the low-voltage network.

Endesa attributed the incident to rising temperatures and increased electricity consumption. Malaga had recorded a then-record electricity demand of 1,490 megawatts on the Thursday before the interruption.

The company subsequently planned a new transformer centre to increase capacity and improve reliability in the neighbourhood. The incident provoked residents to protest on the streets.

New electricity infrastructure will take years

The wider capacity problem is unlikely to disappear any time soon. Plans announced for the province include two new electrical substations and the expansion of an existing one in Cartama.

The projects are intended to provide additional capacity for Malaga city, Antequera and the growing Guadalhorce Valley, including the Malaga TechPark.

The Spanish Government’s proposed electricity network plan to 2030 includes a new Malaga Centro substation, another in Antequera and an expansion of the Cartama facility.

The projects will take time to complete, however, and some infrastructure improvements could be several years away. For residents currently experiencing interruptions, that offers little immediate reassurance.

The latest incidents have again raised questions about whether electricity networks are receiving sufficient investment to cope with Malaga’s expanding population, housing developments and growing demand for power.