Spain: Bars and restaurants run out of ice cubes due to… energy precision

In Spain, the heat and high energy prices have caused, among other things, shortages of… ice cubes!

Supermarkets impose limits on the quantities each customer can buy and bars run out of ice cubes for the drinks they serve. Supermarket chain Mercadona has limited ice sales to five bags per customer. Another chain, Consum, only allows two.

At the start of the year, ice makers cut production amid rising electricity bills and uncertainty (due to Covid-19) about demand levels during the summer months.

But with tourism recovering – approaching pre-pandemic levels – and this summer being one of the hottest in Spain’s history, the companies involved in the production and distribution of ice cubes… are running and falling short. High temperatures combined with the easing of anti-pandemic restrictions have boosted demand.

Ricardo Blasco, owner of one of the oldest ice factories in Madrid, Blasco Ice, says that electricity bills have increased by 50-60% since the beginning of the year and delayed the start of this year’s production (it started in May instead of March ) to partially offset the increased cost.

His factory now operates on a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week basis. Basco explains that he cannot increase his production and is losing sleep over the worry that his customers will be unhappy. “It’s hard when you can’t please everyone, even if you want to,” he says and assures: “Really, we’re doing our best.”

Meanwhile, in many supermarkets consumers are seeing empty freezers where they expected to find bags of ice. Most resort to gas stations and neighborhood grocery stores in search of supplies.

Merthentes Nieto, owner of a bar in Madrid, explains that she is facing a serious problem due to the shortages. “If this continues, we will have a hard time keeping the store open,” he told Reuters, serving a mojito.

Source: RES-MPE