**Spain's National Blackout: Recovery and Future Preventive Measures**

Spain faces questions of energy dependency and systemic resilience as it recovers from a massive blackout that impacted millions.

Spain and Portugal are slowly returning to normalcy after an unprecedented blackout that plunged the regions into chaos for nearly 23 hours. The system failure struck at 12:33 PM on Monday, causing a staggering loss of 15 gigawatts of power, equivalent to 60% of Spain's electricity generation. By 11:15 AM Tuesday, Spain's electricity grid was declared back to operating status, although some public transport lines remained suspended.

The blackout stemmed from two disconnection incidents occurring almost simultaneously in the south-west region, exacerbated by a temporary disconnect from the French electricity network. This led to immediate concerns regarding Spain’s power dependency, as many public figures pointed to an over-reliance on solar energy, which constituted over 60% of the electricity supply just before the outage. Only certain regions like the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands were unaffected.

As efforts unfolded to restore stability, grid operator Red Eléctrica focused initially on reconnecting the northern and southern power generators. A careful and phased approach was necessary to avoid overloading the grid and triggering another outage. Hydro-electric plants and combined-cycle gas plants played vital roles in the gradual restoration of power, while several nuclear reactors were automatically shut down during the crisis.

Spain received assistance from neighboring countries, with Morocco transferring 900 MW of power and France supplying 700 MW initially, which eventually increased to 2,000 MW. By Monday evening, more than one-fifth of Spain’s power demand had been restored through a combination of domestic generation and external support.

Despite restoring electricity to 3.5 million customers by late Monday, the economic impact of the blackout is significant, with estimates of a €1.6 billion hit to the economy. Political leaders have begun assigning blame, criticizing the government's response as sluggish. Nonetheless, citizens displayed commendable resilience and solidarity during the crisis, utilizing backup generators in hospitals and offering assistance to those stranded.

In the wake of the blackout, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has called for comprehensive evaluations of the energy infrastructure to prevent future crises. However, energy experts express concerns about the risks posed by continuing to rely heavily on renewable sources without adequate grid upgrades. Spain must now contend with the lessons learned from this disaster and work to fortify its energy systems for the future.