Spain's state of emergency close to over over as Iberian blackout recovery continues

A massive blackout hit Spain and Portugal at midday on Monday, grinding the Iberian Peninsula to a halt. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez declared a state of emergency as midnight approached, and only half of the country's power had been restored. Sánchez also excluded the possibility of a terrorist attack as one of the potential causes for the outage, and announced a thorough investigation into what the event, which he described as "unthinkable" in the southern European country.

His Portuguese counterpart, Luis Montenegro, said authorities were investigating the disruption. However, there was no indication of a cyberattack. Chaotic scenes showed families sitting in their homes, lit by candlelight, as traffic was disrupted, thousands were stuck in metro tunnels, businesses shut down, and people were unable to make calls on mobile networks or pay without cash.

Stay with us as we bring you the live updates as power slowly returns to communities and authorities begin to piece together what could have caused the widespread blackout..