Spain’s largest recorded blackout caused an estimated economic loss of nearly €400 million ($454 million), according to CaixaBank SA, the country’s biggest domestic lender.
On 28th April, household consumer spending in Spain dropped by 34% due to a prolonged power outage affecting much of the mainland. This estimate, based on card transactions, online shopping, and ATM withdrawals, indicates that although spending rebounded somewhat in the following days, the overall decline remained at 15% below typical levels, Bloomberg reports.
“We estimate that the blackout will have a one-off impact on quarterly GDP of less than one-tenth of a percentage point, less than €400 million,” according to a report compiled by the bank, going on to add that the estimate may change as further data is collected.
The blackout began at approximately 12:30 local time, cutting power to around 50 million people across Spain and Portugal. The disruption affected public transportation, telecommunications, and retail operations. Authorities in Madrid are continuing to investigate the precise cause of the outage.
The country’s High Court has announced an inquiry to determine whether a cyberattack may have triggered the outage, despite Red Eléctrica, the operator of Spain’s power grid, having ruled out that possibility, Reuters news agency reports.
In addition, a spokesperson for the Space Weather Prediction Center, part of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, stated that there was no significant solar or geomagnetic activity on 28th April or during the three preceding days, further narrowing the possible causes of the blackout.
“Based on what we understand and without us knowing the state of, nor the susceptibilities of the Spanish/Portuguese power grid, we still feel it was highly unlikely that space weather caused the large-scale blackout,” added the Space Weather Prediction Center spokesperson.
Furthermore, Spain’s economy is projected to grow by 2.6% in 2025 and 2.2% in 2026, maintaining its position as one of the top performers among the euro area’s largest economies in recent years.
However, the recent mass blackout is estimated to have dealt an immediate blow equivalent to nearly 0.5% of quarterly GDP, according to Bloomberg Economics.
While the power outage caused widespread disruptions, some of the economic loss is expected to be recovered in the following days and weeks.