Renewables boost Spain's industrial competitiveness, according to CaixaBank.

BarcelonaThe massive blackout of April 28th has reopened the debate on the state's energy mix, with criticism leveled at renewables, on the one hand, and nuclear energy, on the other. But the truth is that the significant development of renewable energy in Spain provides a very important competitive advantage to the industry. This is confirmed by the latest sector report by CaixaBank Research, the bank's research department, presented this Friday. The data is clear: energy costs for Spanish industries, which in 2018 were 31% higher than those of European partners, were 26.6% lower in 2024 thanks to significant wind and photovoltaic production. "This places [the industry] in an advantageous position compared to its competitors," the report states.

Despite this good news for the industry, the report highlights that the hospitality industry still has a significant role to play in the growth of the Spanish economy, but also indicates that the number of branches that are pushing the boundaries is increasing, such as the chemical and pharmaceutical industries or the primary sector. CaixaBank Research has also quantified the potential impact of Donald Trump's trade war tariffs, lowering its growth forecast for this year by one-tenth to 2.4% and also by one-tenth for 2026, to 2%. In any case, this is growth above the average of recent years, highlighted the director of Spanish economics at CaixaBank Research, Oriol Aspachs.

Aspachs said this in a virtual press conference with the lead economist of the entity, Judit Montoriol, to present this sector observatory. The director of Spanish economics at the research service emphasized that "it is significant that there are no major changes in the economic forecasts in such an uncertain environment as the current one."

above the European average to benefit from lower rates. Apart from the increased weight of renewables, CaixaBank Research assures that the "lower exposure" to Russian gas has also contributed, which has caused "less disruption" as a result of the war in Ukraine. The Nordic countries and Spain, with more competitive electricity rates, stand out positively, while industrial production in Italy, Austria and Germany is suffering from high electricity costs," the report explains.

Regarding growth forecasts by sector, the study highlights that during this year services will outperform all other sectors. Among those that will grow the most are ICT, the pharmaceutical industry – despite being "vulnerable" to possible tariffs –, tourism, the primary sector and construction

The document points to manufacturing and wholesale trade as the sectors with "medium" growth, and "medium" and "weak" growth. However, Oriol Aspachs has highlighted the "generalized" growth in all sectors and that most branches of the economy show positive developments above the historical average and none of them are in contraction.

Judit Montoriol has asserted that Spain is one of the economies "least affected" by the tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump, because its direct exposure to the United States is 1.3% of its gross domestic product (GDP), which is divided into 0.8% in direct exports and 0.5% through integration into the .

In this regard, she noted that one of the options for mitigating risks is to seek alternative markets and explained that they should be countries with similar purchasing patterns to the United States and that do not have "too much" international competition, such as Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Colombia, or South Africa.

The authors of the study highlighted the moderation of inflation, the decline in interest rates, and the "contained" price of oil as factors contributing to the economic boost. The report also welcomes the "revival" of domestic demand and notes that the number of sectors experiencing "difficulties" has decreased to 34% (compared to 24% in the same period last year).