Old ISS photo altered to depict blackouts in Spain
The altered image actually shows the Iberian Peninsula at night in 2014
CLAIM
A photo circulating on social media was being used to illustrate a nationwide blackout in Spain on April 28. The image, which appeared to have been shot from the International Space Station, showed mainland Spain in faint darkness.
BACKGROUND
A power outage affected major cities in Spain and Portugal on April 28, disrupting transportation systems, mobile networks, and traffic lights.
In Spain, the metro systems in Barcelona, Valencia and Madrid were affected, while disruptions were also reported at Madrid’s Barajas Airport. Spain’s national rail operator Renfe said trains were stopped at all stations.
Meanwhile, in neighbouring Portugal, there were also widespread disruptions to mobile networks and transport services in Lisbon and Porto.
A delegation, including Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, travelled to the control centre of national grid operator Red Eléctrica. “The government is working to understand the origin and the impact of this incident and dedicating all resources towards solving it as soon as possible,” according to a government statement.
Videos and images emerged on social media, showing the chaos, which led to traffic jams and offices left in darkness.
One image which emerged on social media, purported to show mainland Spain in darkness during the blackout.
“#URGENTE Blackout in Europe today Monday April 28th! Spain and Portugal without electricity, due to a #blackout at the national level,” a post accompanying the image said.
Another user who shared the image wrote: “Spain, France and Portugal were left without electricity. Cities such as Navarra, Madrid, Seville, Malaga, and even Barajas Airport in Spain were affected by the blackout.”
Further context was added by another X user, who said: “EFE A power failure affected several areas of Portugal this Monday at around 11:30 local time (10:30 GMT), at the same time as the one that occurred in #EspanaAOscuras according to the agency #Lusa.”
Argentinian News outlet Sitio Andino also ran the image as part of its coverage of the story, writing: “Spain, France, and Portugal are experiencing power outages at various locations. Transportation and communications are disrupted.”
METHOD
Examining the image shared by the user, mainland Spain appears darker than neighbouring countries, but lights are still visible across the country, particularly in major cities.
The image also appears to show a perfect cutline on the border between Spain and Portugal, despite lights being visible on both sides of the border, indicating that a filter may have been applied to mainland Spain in the photo to illustrate the country being shrouded in darkness.
A Google Lens search of the photo brought us to an article by NASA from August 1, 2014, titled “Iberian Peninsula at Night”.
The article contains a photo that is an exact match of the one shared during the blackouts in Spain on April 28.
A caption under the photo read: “One of the Expedition 40 crew members aboard the International Space Station recorded this early evening photo of the entire Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) on July 26, 2014.”
From this, we can conclude that the image does not show the blackouts in Spain on April 28, but dates back to July 26, 2014.
RATING
The image does not depict mainland Spain during the blackouts on April 26, 2025, but instead shows a nighttime shot of the Iberian Peninsula captured from the International Space Station on July 26, 2014. The image has been altered to appear as if it were captured during the blackouts.
SOURCES
X (formerly Twitter). (2025). Available at: Blackout en Europa hoy lunes 28 de abril! España y Portugal sin energía eléctrica, debido a un [Accessed 28 Apr. 2025].
X (formerly Twitter). (2025). Available at: #apagon #Portugal #fallo de #electricidad afecta a zonas de todo Portugal [Accessed 28 Apr. 2025].
X (formerly Twitter). (2025). Available at: España, Francia y Portugal sufren cortes del suministro en distintos puntos. El transporte y las comunicaciones están interrumpidas. [Accessed 28 Apr. 2025].
X (formerly Twitter). (2025). Available at: se quedaron sin energía eléctrica España, Francia y Portugal. [Accessed 28 Apr. 2025].
NASA. (2014). Available at: Iberian Peninsula at Night – NASA. [online] [Accessed 28 Apr. 2025].