A nationwide phone network has shut down in Spain just weeks after blackouts brought chaos and heavy financial damage to the country.

Axar.az reports, citing Independent, emergency services in a number of regions had to provide new telephone numbers for those in need, after phone lines collapsed following network upgrades by Telefonica.

Landline telephones were the worst affected but all voice services by Telefonica appear to have been affected to some extent, according to reports in Spanish media.

A Telefónica spokesperson said: “We have done some network upgrade work which has affected some companies' fixed communication services (voice and internet).

“We are working on resolving this and some of the affected services have already been recovered, such as the 112 emergency services, which have now been re-established.”