Barcelona, April 29, 2025 — The nationwide power outage that plunged much of Spain into darkness this Monday didn’t just disrupt infrastructure and telecommunications—it also stranded thousands of rail passengers, including actor Viggo Mortensen.
The Danish-American star, best known for his role as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, was left waiting for hours at Barcelona’s Sants railway station. Mortensen had planned to travel to Madrid but found himself among the many unable to board their trains due to the unexpected energy collapse.
Speaking to Spanish broadcaster Cadena SER, Mortensen expressed his frustration not only at the delay but at what he called a “lack of official communication.”
“They were already announcing on the radio that no trains would be leaving, but we were told nothing. There were elderly people, children, and pets. The police officers present could have informed us,” he said.
“One key lesson here is the need to improve communication for passengers, especially when mobile networks go down,” he added.
Despite the ordeal, Mortensen acknowledged the patience shown by most travelers during what became a prolonged and confusing shutdown.
The 15-gigawatt power failure—equivalent to 60% of Spain’s real-time demand—crippled train operations and brought parts of the peninsula’s infrastructure to a halt. Red Eléctrica, Spain’s electricity grid operator, has ruled out a cyberattack but has yet to determine the root cause of the blackout.
Train service has since been restored in most regions, but the event has reignited concerns over the vulnerability of Iberia’s power and transportation systems.