The blackout causes millions in losses to the Aragonese economy: these are the figures

The Aragonese economy has suffered losses valued at more than €50 million due to a deadly power outage that suddenly collapsed the grid across the entire peninsula in five seconds, causing the loss of up to 15 gigawatts of power (60% of total national demand at the time). The Department of Economy of the Government of Aragon estimates the damage at €51.6 million. 

These are data obtained from the INE (National Institute of Statistics). Specifically, the figures show that this sudden halt in business activity in Aragon translates into a direct impact on the regional GDP of 0.11%. All of this occurred in just a few hours, as the outage was reported at 12:33 p.m., and the electrical system began to be restored in Aragon approximately four hours later.

While it’s true that the business community has been recovering somewhat asymmetrically between Monday afternoon and Tuesday, some areas of Aragon have continued to report problems with mobile coverage and data throughout April 29th. 

87% OF SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS AFFECTED

Cepyme Aragón spent Tuesday meeting with its partners to obtain tangible conclusions and figures. According to the information gathered this morning, 87% of companies experienced a complete halt in their activity, while 13% were able to continue operating, albeit partially.

Regarding the resumption of activity today, 62.3% of SMEs reported that they were able to do so normally, while 37.7% experienced mainly IT and telecommunications issues. Regarding the incidents experienced, 70.1% of companies reported problems.

EMPLOYERS’ ASSOCIATION DEMANDS EXPLANATIONS 

The Aragonese employers’ associations, CEOE-Cepyme, assert that although it is too early to quantify all the damage, it is clear that companies have been significantly affected by both the halt or decline in activity and any losses in raw materials and machinery.

That’s why we’re going to demand the necessary accountability and compensation. “The key thing now is to clarify the causes of the general blackout in Spain and quickly adopt all the necessary measures and investments to ensure a situation like this never happens again and to provide security for businesses and citizens,” emphasized the president of the employers’ association, Miguel Marzo.