Speaking to the newspaper Açoriano Oriental, Pedro Batista, regional director of Communications and Digital Transition, said that “at the moment we have no evidence of any kind of contagion in the Azores”, adding that “however, we have to take preventive measures in view of what is happening, which we still don’t know in detail”.

Pedro Batista also said that at the level of the regional public administration, “we have taken some measures to avoid a possible contagion in our network, in other words, we have redoubled the connectivity conditions we have. At the moment our websites, our connections, are only available within Portugal,” he concluded.

In its online edition, Expresso reports that E-Redes says that the blackout is due to a “problem in the European electricity grid” and that the service is being restored “progressively”.

The blackout that is leaving Portugal in the dark is also affecting Spain, Belgium, Italy, and France. Expresso has learned that it is suspected to have started in Spain, but there is still no 100% certainty. Due to the electrical failures, airports are also coming to a standstill.”

Expresso also says that National Health Service hospitals “are running on diesel generators”.

According to Diário de Notícias, “the group that connects all the energy suppliers in Portugal, called the Sharing Analysis Community, has already reported the situation to the National Cybersecurity Center”.

“A source from this body told DN that the cause is still unknown and that an assessment is being made, referring further information about the incident to the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority.”

Speaking to RTP 3, Manuel Castro Almeida, when asked about the possibility of a cyberattack, replied that “there is that possibility, but it hasn’t been confirmed.”

“There is indeed that possibility,” said the minister, stressing that he still had little information and that what he had was not confirmed.

“I know that it covers several European countries – Portugal, Spain, France and Germany and I believe Morocco as well,” said Castro Almeida, for whom this is ‘something on a large scale which, given its size, is compatible with a cyber-attack’,

“But it’s unconfirmed information,” he reiterated.

From Açoriano Oriental, online.

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.