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ELECTRICITY

How to check your electricity consumption in real time in Spain

People in Spain are paying the highest electricity prices on record currently. Here's how to check your electricity consumption in real time to keep on top of how much you're spending.

Published: 9 September 2021 11:14 CEST
Updated: 8 March 2022 07:57 CET
How to check your electricity consumption in real time in Spain
How to check your electricity consumption in real time in Spain. Photo: Victoria Heath/Unsplash

War in Ukraine has pushed electricity prices in Spain to the highest rate on record – €544 per megawatt hour (MWh) on Tuesday February 8th.

Between 7pm and 8pm on Tuesday, Spaniards will pay €700/MWh for electricity, truly outlandish rates.

A year ago, the average price per megawatt hour was just €45.44, although over the course of 2021 the price did first double and then quadruple that rate as the Covid-19 pandemic, inflation, adverse weather and a volatile natural gas market all formed the perfect storm for consumers.

And yet, those sky-high rates pale in comparison with what people in Spain now have to pay, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine proving to be the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Logically, Spain’s 47 million inhabitants are now looking for ways to keep a watchful eye on how much electricity they’re consuming at home and at their businesses.

If this is the case for you, here’s how you can monitor your home consumption in real-time over the internet.

Firstly, please be aware that your home must have a smart meter installed in order for this to work.

These are the new models that have replaced the old traditional ones and are being installed and transmit the data so that you can follow it online. 

All you need to do is to go to the customer area of the distributor that provides your electricity or its corresponding app. This should be the company that sends you electricity bills each month.

If you don’t know your distributor, then you can look for the CUPS (Universal Supply Point Code) code on your bill – this is a series of numbers in which the first digits indicate the distributor.

Where to find your CUPS code. Image: Endesa
 

Here are some examples of codes that correspond to different distributors: Nedgia ES0230, Nortegas ES0229, Redexis ES0238, Endesa ES0031, Iberdrola ES0021, and Union Fenosa ES0022.

You can check here to see Spain’s 333 different electricity distributors. 

Electricity distributors in Spain per region. Image: Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y de la Competencia

Once you have identified your distributor, you can access the website and log on. If you are not yet registered online, you can go ahead and do so. You may need to input some information which should be included on your most recent bill, such as your CUPS code and other identifying numbers.

You may also need to scan in and upload an ID document in order for them to identify you.

Once you have registered and logged on you will need to click on the button that says something similar to ‘meter consultation’ or ‘online access to the meter’, which will give you access to the data.

Where to see your electricity consumption in real-time. Image: Screenshot

Whether on the web or via the app, you will be able to see the power capacity you have contracted and the power you are consuming displayed in real-time and letting you know how much you’re spending on electricity at that given moment.

Electricity consumption online. Image: Screenshot

If you don’t have a computer or access to the app, or you don’t have a smart meter installed at your home, you can also always call your company and request information on your current electricity consumption.

READ ALSO: 11 ways to cut costs as Spain’s electricity rates beat all-time price records

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SPANISH TRADITIONS

Everything you need to know about Mother’s Day in Spain

Here's how and when in May Mother's Day is celebrated in Spain, and why it owes its roots to religion and a Valencian poet.

Published: 3 May 2024 13:37 CEST
Everything you need to know about Mother's Day in Spain

This year, Mother’s Day (El Día de la Madre) is celebrated in Spain on Sunday May 5th. It’s always celebrated on the first Sunday of the month of May.

On this day, young children in Spain give their mothers manualidades (crafts) they’ve made at school as a token of their love.

Husbands and older sons and daughters may buy their wives/mothers a present to say thanks for all that they do as matriarchs, which usually takes the form of a detalle (smaller present than for a birthday or Christmas), and will come accompanied by a message such as te quiero, mamá (I love you, mum).

According to experiences website Aladinia, the average Spaniards spends €65 on gifts on Mother’s Day. 

Other mums may send out text messages to wish each other ¡Feliz Día de la Madre! (Happy Mother’s Day!).

As it’s always celebrated on a Sunday, many shops will be closed but you can expect plenty of restaurants to be open for lunch and perhaps dinner. 

Depending where you’re from, the first Sunday of May may or may not be when you’re used to celebrating Mother’s Day in your home country.

Around the world over 100 countries celebrate Mother’s Day (or Mothering Sunday, more on the difference below) – 77 in May, 13 in March, and 14 at other times during the year.

Some countries, like the UK, celebrate Mothering Sunday on the fourth Sunday during Lent, meaning that the date changes each year. This is because Mothering Sunday was originally a Christian holiday in some European countries.

READ ALSO: How a female teacher campaigned for Spain to have a Father’s Day

Spain, however, celebrates Mother’s Day on the first Sunday in May each year, meaning that it doesn’t have a fixed date either. But it wasn’t always like that.

The history of Mother’s Day in Spain

The first Mother’s Day in Spain was celebrated in Madrid all the way back on October 4th, 1926. Much of the impetus for establishing a day to celebrate mothers came, rather fittingly, from a poet.

Julio Menéndez García, a Valencian poet and public servant, pushed for a special day to celebrate mothers. Spanish newspaper La Libertad published a short section on Garcìa’s efforts in October 1925:

“A Levantine poet, Julio Menéndez García, has had the happy initiative that in Spain and in the Spanish-speaking nations a day should be consecrated to extol the love of mothers. The establishment of Mother’s Day is something tender and sympathetic, which deserves to be welcomed by governments, the press and public opinion, as it involves the highest tribute to women in their most august representation.”

After the Civil War, the church moved the date to December 8th to coincide with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, a key holiday among Catholics. 

Civil War-era poster urging Madrid mothers to leave the Spanish capital with their children before the arrival of Franco’s troops. (Photo by AFP)

But it wasn’t until 1965 that Mother’s Day was celebrated in May in Spain. The reason for this change of date was to separate the celebrations (both were considered important enough to have their own day) but also the influence of other countries, namely the United States.

The campaign for a Mother’s Day was originally started by Anna Jarvis, an American wanting to honour her mother, in 1908. By 1914, US President Woodrow Wilson officially signed it into law, establishing a May date. 

However, for many years in Spain department store El Corte Inglés maintained the date of 8th December, meaning that Spain Mother’s Day was celebrated twice a year for a while, commercially speaking at least.

In 1936 a local council in Breña Baja, on the Canary island of La Palma, became the first in Spain to move Mother’s Day to May.

However, in 1965 the church authorities officially decided to move Mother’s Day to May, a month consecrated to the Virgin Mary. May is also the month of female gods in the classical world, and in Catholicism is dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

Interestingly, Jarvis herself later campaigned against the day, arguing it had become overly commercialised, something Spaniards often bemoan about other imported American customs like Halloween and Valentine’s Day. 

READ ALSO: How a female teacher campaigned for Spain to have a Father’s Day

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