What happened on 3 October?
At 05:44 on 3 October 2026, the power went out across almost all of Lanzarote and La Graciosa. According to Red Eléctrica, a fault in switchgear at the Mácher 132/66 kV substation triggered the outage.
The Punta Grande power station then shut down. As a result, central and northern Lanzarote lost supply. Playa Blanca, in the municipality of Yaiza, remained supplied with electricity because of its connection with Fuerteventura, according to the reports.
Red Eléctrica reported that supply had been largely restored by 07:13. La Provincia reports a time of around 07:15. Around 73,600 customers were affected, as eldiario.es reports; other reports put the figure at more than 84,000 people.
Why did the water supply also fail?
According to La Provincia, the electricity supply to the seawater desalination plants also collapsed. This caused interruptions and pressure drops in the drinking water supply.
Water production was later fully resumed. However, further localised disruptions and low water pressure were warned of for 3 October.
The Canary Islands directorate-general for emergencies declared a pre-alert. The Cabildo de Lanzarote activated the Plan de Emergencias Insular de Lanzarote (PEIN) at pre-alert level to monitor the supply of basic services.
What does the government say about the causes?
The president of the Canary Islands government, Fernando Clavijo Batlle, said, according to La Provincia, that the incident once again showed the “obsolescencia de los equipos”, meaning the ageing of the electrical installations.
He announced an administrative procedure to establish the causes. “El expediente, cuando lo tengamos, lo haremos público,” Clavijo said, according to La Provincia: the report is to be made public.
The Consejería de Transición Ecológica y Energía requested all information about the incident from Red Eléctrica and Endesa. It intends to examine technical reports and demand consequences if responsibilities are established.
Which infrastructure is intended to stabilise the grid?
A new power line between Tías and Playa Blanca is regarded as a priority infrastructure measure. It is intended to stabilise the grid and later replace the existing line.
According to Red Eléctrica, the Mácher substation is linked to the planned expansion of the 132 kV double-circuit Mácher–Playa Blanca connection. This infrastructure is intended to reinforce the electrical system of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.
Red Eléctrica says it is working with the Consejería de Transición Ecológica y Energía and the Cabildo de Lanzarote to complete the final section of the line. The company did not give a binding date.
What is the situation for residents and visitors?
No new prices, fees, application procedures or deadlines were announced for residents, foreign residents or tourists in the available reports. The power cut is over.
No specific closure of tourist facilities or any change to ferry, flight or entry rules is mentioned in the available sources. The water supply was temporarily affected.
The president of the Consorcio de Seguridad y Emergencias de Lanzarote, Francisco J. Aparicio, reported, according to La Provincia, only one incident in a lift so far because of the power cut.
What remains open?
The final technical investigation report and any possible liability of companies remain unclear. No binding date for the renewal of the installations was given either.
The background research shows that Lanzarote and La Graciosa belong to the Lanzarote-Fuerteventura island electricity system. Red Eléctrica had identified additional generation capacity as necessary for this system.
For Lanzarote-Fuerteventura, 215 MW by 2029 was given as sufficient or selected new generation capacity. The figure of 250 MW refers to an earlier plan for renewing generation systems that extends to 2029. However, the sources do not give any costs for the power cut of 3 October.