The Canary Islands' vital 012 helpline has been knocked offline by the massive blackout sweeping across Spain, even though the islands’ own power supply remains unaffected.
Government officials confirmed today that the 012 helpline, which is used by thousands for essential services like healthcare and employment advice, suffered a sudden interruption due to the national outage. The disruption has left residents temporarily unable to reach key public services by phone.
The Non-Face-to-Face Citizen Information and Assistance Service, which operates the helpline, broke the news on social media, blaming the widespread power failure across the peninsula. Despite the blackout not hitting the Canaries' own energy systems, the helpline’s dependence on national networks meant it was dragged into the chaos.
In a message posted on X, officials said: “Due to the widespread power outage at a national level, there has been an interruption of the 012 service (922 470 012 / 928 301 012).” They added that teams are "working to restore service as soon as possible" and thanked the public for their patience.
The mass outage, which struck mainland Spain, Portugal, and parts of southern France around midday, has caused major disruption, with airports, train services, and emergency numbers all affected.
While life continues as normal across the Canary Islands for now, authorities remain on high alert and have promised updates as work to fully restore services continues.
