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At the other end of the scale, the construction sector was very severely affected as it was considered non-essential for its most part, and over and above that, many companies and families postponed investment and spending.
Industry and services also registered sharp drops due to the factors outlined above and to the peculiar mix of economic activities they encompass (see the graph on the ''[[:File:Evolution in Gross Value Added|Evolution in Gross Value Added)]]'').
The recovery of economic activity during the third quarter of 2020 was even more contrasting. Once limitations were lifted, the construction sector fared worse again. At the other end of the scale, industry was the sector that resumed regular activity faster during the third quarter of 2020 as national and international patterns of consumption revived and the global logistics chains creaked back into action.
A similar pattern was observed amongst the different industrial activity fields. The areas considered as being essential, such as the production and distribution of energy and non-durable consumer good industries, with the food industry at its heart, put up well with recession as they were considered as being essential. Conversely, activities devoted to producing and selling durable consumer goods and capital equipment registered a more pronounced decline and a somewhat less sure-footed immediate recovery as the persistent uncertainty deterred families and companies from making decisions on spending and investment.
Due to these sectoral differences and to the uneven regional specialisations, the impact of the first wave of the pandemic on economy was unevenly distributed throughout the country. As the map on the ''[[:File:Employed during the first wave of the pandemic|Employed during the first wave of the pandemic)]]''Employed during the first wave of the pandemic ) shows, the provinces to see the most significant year-on-year contraction from 2019 to 2020, of over 10%, were those whose economies rely heavily on tourism and food and beverage services, such as Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the Balearic Islands (Illes Balears), Alicante and Almería, as well as those heavily reliant on construction, such as Guadalajara. By contrast, provinces with less dependence on services and a higher proportion of agricultural and agri-food industry businesses, such as Ávila, Palencia, Soria, Huesca and Lleida, or those with a highly dynamic ceramics industry, such as Castellón, suffered under a less severe impact on employment. Moreover, the change in the amount of employed was even slightly positive in some of these provinces, such as Ávila, Palencia and Castellón.
This fall in employment is related to the 5.6% drop in companies registered in the Social Security system. The most affected regions were the Balearic Islands (Illes Balears) [-10.6%], the Canary Islands (Canarias) [-7.7%], Andalusia (Andalucía) [-6.4%] and Extremadura [-6.3%], whilst the Basque Country (Euskadi/País Vasco) and Navarre (Navarra) lost just under 4% of companies. The reason for this contrast lies in the sectoral specialisation mentioned previously and the average size of the companies, with larger firms being able to draw on larger resources to withstand the downturn.
