Numerous workers They were forced to do it Leave your positions In Spain and Portugal on Monday at noon, after a Important blackout It will affect telephone lines, internet access, payments with paper and will leave citizens without light.
The Portuguese electrical operator said that the blackout was due to a “Unusual atmospheric phenomenon” relating to the extreme changes of Temperature in Spain. The President of the Council of the European Union, António Costa, has excluded a computer attack As the cause of the blackout, denying the items. Ren reported that, in the worst case, the services could take up to a week to return to normal.
The Spanish economy “turns off temporarily”
“In essence, the Spanish economy is stopped during the day, which means that companies will be affected in the short term, but in the end the total interruption will probably be marginalprovided that electricity returns relatively early, “said the analyst of the currency market of the Ballinger group
Kyle Chapman added: “I suspect that the greatest concern will be the state of infrastructure e recovery capacityAnd this could slightly damage the growth of GDP. I think we are probably seeing how the fundamental problems of the expansion of the renewable energy“.
THE Spanish economy It grew by 3.2% in 2024, more than double the Eurozone average (0.9%). The internal demand promoted expansion, while tourism also contributed to growth. In Portugal, growth was 1.9% in 2024, according to Statistics Portugal.
Decrease in production for the return home of workers
Beatriz Barber, residing in Madrid and worker of a Spanish engineering company, explained to “Euronews” who was postponed home early in the afternoon why I could not continue with his work.
“I worked normally until 12:30. I had an online meeting from my office … and the partner I was talking about at the meeting It was disconnected Suddenly because he was calling from his home. It is likely that it is connected to another internet operator who had already fallen. The other companions who were at the meeting continued in contact, just like me. “
After this, Beatriz said that the screens of her computer remained in black and that she was “connected to the internet in my laptop but not on the phone for about half an hour. After that time, I had no internet in my laptop. It was a progressive collapse“He explained.” My boss told me and my team that we could return home after this, since we could not continue working and expected that the recovery of the electricity grid would have requested several hours, “added the worker.
Sectors affected by the blackout
Although the Economic impact It will not be known completely until the spirits are calmed down, the travel sector has noticed the pressure, since electricity paralyzed the trains and caused important disorders in Airports. Eduardo Prieto, head of the operations of Electric red From Spain, he told journalists that it was an unprecedented event and described the event as “exceptional and extraordinary”.
Mirko Woitzik, head of the intelligence of the risk of Eversreato Analytics, also indicated “Euronews” such as the Fuel supplywhich hinders the transport of trucks throughout the Iberian peninsula. Said the Car and truck factoriesFrom Ford to Iveco, who also use about 5,000 workers They were paralyzed.
Also, thousands of Small suppliers Without the supply of the electrical reserve, they are also interested. Also stressed that the main Manufacturing industries And the Spanish supply chains include motor vehicles, food production and chemicals.
European market reaction to blackout
At 17:30 CEST, the European markets Showed a little impactwith the main indices in positive territory. Him Ibex 35The main reference index of the Spanish stock market, increased by 0.75% to 13,456.10 points, while Eurostoxx 600, a large indicator of the European variable income market, gained 0.53% to 523.19 points.
In France, CAC 40 increased by 0.50%, to 7,573.76 points and the German Dax, 0.13%, at 22,271.67 points. The Italian Ftse also mentioned Green, with an increase of 0.31% at the end of the market.
