Iberian blackout costs economy £1.4 billion as critiques mount
The president of the Spanish employers' organisation CEOE, Antonio Garamendi, estimated that Tuesday's power outage, which affected the Iberian Peninsula on Monday, will cost the economy about 1.6 billion euros (approximately 1.4 billion pounds), which is 0.1 percent of the gross domestic product.
Garamendi emphasised the scale of the problems caused by the outage. He noted that refineries will need weeks to restore full functionality, and blast furnaces may have suffered significant damage. "It's a huge impact on the economy," said the head of the employers' organisation during a conversation with journalists.
Regarding possible compensations, the leader of Spanish entrepreneurs suggested that the responsibility for payouts might lie with the insurance policies carried out by the Consorcio de Compensación de Seguros. However, he noted that the details are still being analysed.
Criticism of government actions after the outage
The CEOE president did not hold back criticism towards the Spanish government for their communication approach during the crisis. In his opinion, authorities should have reacted faster and ensured a continuous flow of information for citizens and businesses. "The government should have acted more efficiently and informed continuously," Garamendi said.
He expressed particular dissatisfaction with the statement from the Ministry of Labour, which declared that employers must bear the costs of employee absences caused by the outage. The head of the employers' organisation added that they don't need such instructions because they know perfectly well what to do out of sheer social responsibility, which they constantly demonstrate.
The massive power outage, which occurred at about 11:30 AM Greenwich Mean Time on Tuesday, caused serious disruptions in transportation and the daily functioning of residents and businesses on the Iberian Peninsula. The problem affected both mainland Spain and Portugal.
According to the latest data, by 7:00 AM Greenwich Mean Time the following day, nearly complete power was restored – 99.95 percent of electricity demand was recovered in the Iberian Peninsula area. Specialists are still working to determine the exact causes of this unprecedented outage that paralysed two countries.
