Michael Coy
THE price of some so-called ‘survival’ products has increased by almost 40%. The blackout is a reminder of the EU’s recommended survival kit: the basics you should have at home.
Spain is recovering from the historic power cut that affected the country last Monday and left the entire Iberian Peninsula without electricity.
There were moments of uncertainty and great tension, and it became clear that people must be prepared for this type of unexpected event, despite Beatriz Corredor, president of Red Eléctrica Española (REE), asserting that the Spanish electricity system is the ‘best in Europe’.
It was in those moments that many citizens remembered the proposal made by Brussels to all households in the European Union to have a survival kit in their homes to cope with emergency situations.
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That list of essential items included, among others, a battery-powered radio, a portable stove, a flashlight, and an external mobile phone battery.
Precisely during those hours when we were in a ‘zero energy’ situation, the demand for some of these objects shot up to unprecedented levels, which had the direct consequence of their prices rising significantly in less than 24 hours for certain models.
According to data from Idealo, Europe’s leading product price comparison site, searches for power generators increased sevenfold, rising 639% in just one day; while gas camping stoves increased by 547%, or sixfold.
Another product whose interest among citizens increased after the blackout was photovoltaic panels, with searches increasing by 400%.
But if there was one product that has been a hit, it has been the battery-powered portable radio, whose sales have increased 85-fold on the AliExpress platform.
As Elena Omedes and Carlos Pérez Palomino explained, specialised brick-and-mortar stores sold out in a matter of hours. “Until a few hours ago, only the elderly bought radios from us, and now we don’t have any,” said one of the managers at Ferretería Aguilón in Madrid’s Legazpi neighbourhood on Monday.
The idealo comparison tool shows, for example, that a Philips TAR2509/10 transistor went from costing €31.28 to €37.90 in less than a day, representing a cost increase of more than 20%.
Meanwhile, a Xiaomi power bank with a 20,000 mAh capacity for charging a mobile phone, wireless headphones, or a smartwatch was priced at €14.99 before the blackout, and now the best price at which it can be purchased is €20.89.
The increase in this case is more than 39%. According to AliExpress, demand for power banks has quadrupled.
Something similar also happened with some LED flashlights. The TL 410 A model from Brennenstuhl went from costing €14.44 to selling for 35% more (€19.42). And the Campingaz Camp Bistro DLX stove increased in price by more than 28% (from €34.99 to €44.95).
