Wind generators operated by Gamesa Eloica SA close to Zaragoza, Spain, on Wednesday, March 25, 2026. Renewables are serving to cushion the blow of upper oil and gasoline costs in Europe.
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Spanish Economic system Minister Carlos Cuerpo lauded the nation’s vitality resilience to the Iran conflict, saying a pivot to photo voltaic and wind energy has shielded Madrid from the worst impacts of the ensuing vitality shock.
His feedback come at a time when Spain’s authorities has emerged as one of many European Union’s main critics of the U.S.-Israel conflict in opposition to Iran, with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez having described the continued Center East disaster as a “catastrophe.”
U.S. President Donald Trump pledged to chop off commerce with Madrid after Spain prevented two collectively operated bases in its territory from being utilized in strikes in opposition to Iran.
Talking to CNBC’s Karen Tso on Thursday, Cuerpo stated that Spain had been higher ready for this disaster, declaring that the nation has been the fastest-growing superior economic system in Europe during the last couple of years.
Spain additionally created 40% of all new jobs within the euro zone final yr, Cuerpo stated, whereas noting that on budgetary phrases, the nation’s debt has almost returned to pre-Covid ranges.
“In vitality phrases, we’re additionally higher ready as a result of we have pursued our agenda on renewables,” Cuerpo stated on the sidelines of the IMF and World Financial institution Group Spring Conferences in Washington this week.
Spain’s reliance on gasoline for electrical energy costs has dropped to only 16% this yr, Cuerpo stated, down from 75% in 2019. “So, it form of will increase our vitality sovereignty and reduces the publicity to the shock,” he added.
Cuerpo acknowledged, nonetheless, that residents and companies had been nonetheless struggling the implications of the Iran conflict by way of increased gasoline and fertilizer costs.
Analysts have pointed to Spain as a prime instance of how nations have been in a position to restrict their publicity to fossil gasoline worth volatility in latest weeks.
Spain, alongside Portugal and a few Nordic nations, is among the many nations to have registered the bottom gasoline costs throughout the 27-nation bloc because the Center East battle started.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (R) and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) meet at Moncloa Palace on March 18, 2026 in Madrid, Spain.
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Spain’s renewables push has not been with out its critics. Certainly, the nation’s authorities was sharply criticized final yr following a catastrophic blackout. The outage, which some U.S. lawmakers blamed on Spain’s inexperienced agenda, was one in every of Europe’s worst in dwelling reminiscence.
Spain’s authorities subsequently denied renewable vitality was responsible for the blackout, and a report by Entso-e, which had been investigating the basis explanation for the April 2025 incident, later discovered that there was no single trigger and as an alternative stated there was a mixture of “many interacting components” which led to the outage.
Spain’s anti-war stance
Talking alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz final month, Trump pledged to sever commerce ties with Spain, saying the White Home didn’t need something to do with the nation.
The U.S. president has additionally repeatedly criticized Madrid for its refusal to fulfill the NATO protection spending goal of 5% of gross home product.
Trump’s menace to punish Spain on commerce is alleged to be difficult, nonetheless, provided that the 27 EU nations negotiate commerce agreements collectively.
“Spain didn’t wish to take part on this unilateral battle that’s outdoors of worldwide legislation. And that is really what we did,” Cuerpo stated when requested about Spain’s anti-war place and Trump’s commerce threats.
“We’re not alone on this place in opposition to the present scenario and the participation within the conflict in Iran, many different European nations and companions have additionally expressed a really comparable place,” he continued.
“And relating to commerce relations with the U.S., Spanish firms function in the very same atmosphere as French, German or Italian ones, as a result of we have now a novel commerce relation. I imply inside the EU with respect to the U.S., and we’re attempting to go forward with a deal that we signed final August, and that is really the place we should always put all our efforts to have the ability to fulfil that deal and make good on it.”