keep 70 euros at home

In April 2025, Spain suffered a historic blackout that left numerous systems exposed. Inter alia, that of digital paymentswhich was completely fallen. The businesses that continued operating They did so demanding cash payments. Months later we experienced crashes in the Redsys system that left out of the game to card payments in physical and online stores. All of this has caused the Bank of Spain to have new advice for citizens: have some cash at home just in case.

Keep 70 euros at home just in case. From the Bank of Spain have launched A recommendation to try to mitigate problems of this type: save between 70 and 100 euros in cash per person. This figure is similar to that recommended by other central banks in other European countries. The European Central Bank itself already indicated how authorities in Holland, Austria and Finland suggest having that amount for each member of the household, or enough to cover essential needs for 72 hours.

Reverse. There are some countries that were very ambitious with this digitalization of payments. Sweden was one of them, but is backtracking after seeing the consequences of a weakened cash infrastructure. The Swedish government has proposed force supermarkets and pharmacies to accept cash payments to ensure access to basic products. Belgium did something similar with its regulations in 2023 after detecting that some physical businesses were beginning to reject banknotes despite the fact that 45% of purchases are still made with cash. In 2024 that percentage had already fallen to 39%.

Right to cash. Hungary has been even more ambitious in its defense of cash. In 2025 was approved the so-called ATM Act that obliges all Hungarian towns to have an ATM, in addition to prohibiting banks from getting rid of their cash withdrawal services. Switzerland goes further, and after a referendum has included in its Constitution access to cash as a citizen right. This will allow Swiss citizens to continue having access to traditional banknotes and coins even if a digital Swiss franc is launched, as planned.

Beware of financial exclusion. For people with disabilities and also for older people, the advancement of digital payments is not an advantage, but rather a barrier. Pilar Villarino, executive director of the Spanish Committee of Representatives of People with Disabilities (CERMI) explained in five days that “The problem is not that digital payment methods advance, but that this advance occurs leaving behind those who find barriers to using them.”

In Spain we almost have no money at home. Cash continues to be the main means of payment for 57% of Spaniards. However, we do not usually keep money for emergencies in the form of cash at home. According to the last “Study on habits in the use of cash” from the Bank of Spain by 2025, only half of the population had banknotes or coins in their wallet, and the average amount was around 45 euros, clearly below what the ECB recommends.

We are left without ATMs. Access to physical money is becoming more complicated due to the notable reduction in the ATM network in Spainwhich has lost 8,000 of these systems in the last two years (18% of the total). Although this reduction seemed unstoppable, what happened with the great blackout of 2025 and subsequent problems has made cash stop being seen as outdated. We have rediscovered it as a refuge from these situations.

Image | Pxhere

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