What are the costs of the blackout? Hundreds of millions wiped out of the Spanish economy

These are CaixaBank estimates based on card usage, online purchases and ATM withdrawals. This decline was only partially compensated for in the following days , resulting in a 15% drop in relation to what would normally have been spent.

The blackout cost Spain a loss in GDP. The bank provided calculations

"We estimate that the power outage will have a one-off impact on quarterly GDP of less than one tenth of a percentage point, less than 400 million euros," the bank said in a report cited by Bloomberg, adding that the estimate could change as more data is collected.

The blackout began at around 12:30 p.m. local time, leaving about 50 million people in Spain and Portugal without power.

Spain’s economy is expected to expand by 2.6% this year and 2.2% next year. The country has led growth among the eurozone’s largest countries in recent years . Bloomberg Economics predicts the immediate impact of the blackout will be closer to 0.5% of quarterly GDP, but says some of that is likely to be recovered in the coming days and weeks.

The European Union needs major investments in energy infrastructure

Authorities are investigating the cause, but regardless of the findings, analysts and industry representatives say infrastructure investment is essential.

The EU's power grid is mostly from the last century, with half of its lines more than 40 years old. Growing low-carbon energy production and growing demand from data centers and electric vehicles require a major grid overhaul. Digital protection of infrastructure to withstand cyberattacks is also important