Changes

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the relevance of this type of analysis. The state of alarm limited activity to a very specific set of essential activities that included the supply of energy, water and food; the processing sector; freight transport; information and communication services; financial services; business advice; public administration; healthcare; and social services (see the chart on ''[[:File:Companies deemed as being essential|Companies deemed as being essential]]'').

The map on the percentage of ''[[:File: Companies deemed as being essential|Companies deemed as being essential]]'' in each municipality shows the relative importance of these economic activities, which account for 67.3% of companies and 74.1% of employed in Spain. However, this national average is widely exceeded in sparsely populated provinces, such as Lugo, Zamora, Palencia, Soria, Teruel, Huesca, Lleida, Cuenca and Almería, where companies deemed as being essential make up 75% of the business fabric. Segovia, Ávila, Salamanca and Jaén stand also above the national average with over 72% of companies considered essential. At the other end of the scale, the three Basque provinces, Alicante, Málaga, the Balearic Islands (Illes Balears), Ceuta and Melilla are to be observed, where less than 65% of companies are deemed as being essential.

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Again, the overall geographical impact was determined by sectoral specialisation. The most affected provinces were Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Las Palmas and Cádiz, due to their strong involvement in energy commodities; and Valladolid, Palencia, Araba/Álava and Saragossa (Zaragoza), due to the drop in vehicle exports. The provinces of Ourense and Corunna (A Coruña), for their part, were affected primarily by the drop in manufactured consumer goods. At the other end of the scale, exports increased from the provinces of Salamanca, Segovia, Huesca, Lleida, Cuenca, Cáceres and Granada, whose overall export volume is low but highly specialised in the food, tobacco and beverage sectors. Lastly, the provinces with the highest export volumes, such as Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia, benefited from more diversified export structures and relevant export of capital equipment and semi-manufactured goods, which lessened their downturns, keeping them around the national average.

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