Foto: Albert Renau
Fa unes setmanes, la revista MAINHARDT, ens va convidar a participar en la seua publicació número 102. Francament, sempre ens conviden i, cada vegada que podem, aprofitem l’oportunitat que ens donen. En aquesta ocasió hem volgut posar el focus en un problema que ens té amb molta preocupació: el “boom” de les renovables. Des del nostre col·lectiu pensem que des de l’Ajuntament podríem estar fent molt més, donada l’emergència climàtica. Per exemple, no conformar-se amb només una CEL (Comunitat Energètica Local); dur a terme la modificació del PGOU, tal com es va aprovar fa un any, per a protegir la nostra terra; construir les noves infraestructures ja energèticament autosuficients, no com el nou Espai d’Oci d’Alcossebre. Així que, redactem un article en el qual tractem d’explicar el nostre punt de vista, sense titulars ni escarafalls; tractem d’argumentar la nostra mirada. Vos compartim el pdf de l’article (en castellà) perquè pugueu llegir-ho còmodament.
Aprofitem per a donar a conéixer l’activitat de l’associació que publica la revista. Es diu Amics de Mainhartd i aquesta és el seu web https://www.amicsdemainhardt.eu/
Hace unas semanas, la revista MAINHARDT, nos invitó a participar en su publicación número 102. A decir verdad, siempre nos invitan y, cada vez que podemos, aprovechamos la oportunidad que nos dan. En esta ocasión hemos querido poner el foco en un problema que nos tiene con mucha preocupación: el “boom” de las renovables. Desde nuestro colectivo pensamos que desde el Ayuntamiento podríamos estar haciendo mucho más, dada la emergencia climática, por ejemplo, no conformarse con sólo una CEL (Comunidad Energética Local); llevar a cabo la modificación del PGOU, tal y como se aprobó hace un año, para proteger nuestra tierra; construir las nuevas infraestructuras ya energéticamente autosuficientes. Así que, redactamos un artículo en el que tratamos de explicar nuestro punto de vista, sin titulares ni aspavientos; tratamos de argumentar nuestra mirada. Os compartimos el pdf del artículo (en castellano) para que podáis leerlo cómodamente.
Aprovechamos para dar a conocer la actividad de la asociación que publica la revista. Se llama Amics de Mainhartd y esta es su web https://www.amicsdemainhardt.eu/. Està en valencià.
A few weeks ago, MAINHARDT magazine invited us to participate in its 102nd issue. To tell the truth, they always invite us and, whenever we can, we take advantage of the opportunity they give us. On this occasion, we wanted to focus on a problem that has us very concerned: the “boom” of renewable energies. From our collective we think that from the City Council we could be doing much more, given the climate emergency, for example, not to be satisfied with just a CEL (Local Energy Community); to carry out the modification of the PGOU, as approved a year ago, to protect our land; to build the new infrastructures already energetically self-sufficient. So, we wrote an article in which we try to explain our point of view, without headlines or fuss; we try to argue our point of view. We share with you the pdf of the article (in Spanish) so that you can read it comfortably.
We would like to take this opportunity to publicise the activities of the association that publishes the magazine. It is called Amigos de Mainhartd and this is its web site (in Valenciano) https://www.amicsdemainhardt.eu/
READ THE ARTICLE DOWN HERE:
MAGDA and Rural Life
How to destroy the territory in the name of sustainability.
Last April 22nd we celebrated Earth Day. I always say that we are very lucky to live in a land like Castellón, rich, economically, environmentally, culturally and gastronomically. And the fact is that we have everything: sea, mountain, rural, urban, our own language, we are heirs of different cultures… the sum of all these resources is our identity as a people, and putting it in value improves our quality of life. On the other hand, “exploiting” this wealth for tourism is an important source of income. This identity is what makes us unique, different from other towns, and its enhancement can guarantee us a respectful tourism, that is, the one that comes to a municipality discreetly, mixes with those who live there, discovers its riches and takes a beautiful memory forever. In 2018, the Regional Ministry of Tourism designed the Crea Turisme strategy, promoting territory, landscape and its experiences as a marketing strategy, as opposed to the outdated value of “sun and beach”. In other words, culture, gastronomy, agrotourism, etc… all of them identity signs offered by the inhabitants of the tourist destination in question. So, yes, we have reason to celebrate Earth Day, of our land.
Because of this type of political strategies (the Castellón Provincial Council also implemented them) and, above all, out of love for our land, many families were encouraged to continue living in the rural world or even took the step to live in it. They created new companies, invested their wealth in them, digitalised; some of them (until then agrarian) were trained in the creation of tourist products; they invested in organic agriculture and livestock farming, thus differentiating themselves from industrial processes and giving quality to the products of our land. Town councils began to have some hope in the repopulation of their municipalities; it was (and is) an opportunity to revitalise an emptied Spain. In 2020, with the COVID crisis, this lifestyle had a brutal boost; with this misfortune, life was teaching us that living in the countryside was much better. And it is in the wake of this crisis that Europe creates an exceptional temporary recovery instrument to help member countries economically and socially, called Next Generation. These funds, in turn, have several instruments; two of them, the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (RRM) and the REACT-EU Fund, prioritise ecology and digitalisation. It is at this time that the rural world, after COVID, sees its future with some hope, as financial aid was made available to boost its businesses digitally and to invest in renewable energies. Moreover, it should not be forgotten that, since 2015, Europe has been trying to combat climate change by favouring the decarbonisation of the economy. Therefore, the Next Generation was good news which, added to the Green Deal (signed in Paris in 2015 by the European Union) whose objective was the CHANGE OF ENERGY MODEL; and the creation of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda, made us believe that the rural world was in luck. The “rural world” encompasses those people with ecological ambitions and who are aware of the problems of climate change and its solutions.
So, what has happened in recent months in the Province of Castellón (and in the rest of Spain) that we have seen people from the rural world continuously demonstrating against the macro projects for the installation of Solar Panels? Are they not renewable energies? Do they not help to change the energy model? No, they don’t. The macro projects respond to the same energy model that we have known until now. The difference is that it is produced through solar panels instead of a nuclear power plant. But they are the same because the energy is produced in an area far from the areas of consumption; because they benefit a few: the multinational developers (usually foreign), and not the inhabitants of the land they occupy; they are the same because they create few jobs, delocalised (not in the village) and for a limited period of time. In this sense, Luis del Romero Renau, geographer and activist of the Recartografías Association, affirms in his report Bailías, that the municipalities that opt for this type of macro parks drive away the population that seeks rurality to live, and that they do not improve the demography, but rather, on the contrary, they make it decrease. Moreover, it seems to us very similar to the model of the real estate boom, i.e., whoever arrives, buys a cheap plot of land without any planning, speculates and sells it to the highest bidder, regardless of what happens in the village where the solar panels are located. We have to bear in mind that the consequences of covering the mountain with solar panels are tremendous: it dries out the land, destroys the flora and fauna, affects the hydrological cycle, etc. If we add to this the consequences of high-voltage pylons on people’s health, we can agree that the rural population is against these projects.
And what has the rural population done in the face of this situation?
In Castellón, in January 2022, a platform called NO MAGDA was created by companies in the gastro-agricultural tourism sector following the publication in the BOE of the request for prior administrative authorisation and the environmental impact study for the 150 MWp / 127.8 MWn photovoltaic solar plant project called Magda and its evacuation infrastructure in the province of Castellón. This platform has been dedicated to disseminating this publication and obtaining allegations in record time, as they found out about it after a month, with barely 15 days left to make allegations. And this is another of the similarities with the projects that affect the environment, which are published, but without publicity. This platform drafted a manifesto which has been signed by 60 gastro-agricultural tourism companies and 6 collectives: Associació Nostra Terra (Les Coves de Vinromà), Asociación de recolectores y cultivadores de trufa de la provincia de Castellón Viver, Indicació Geogràfica Protegida (IGP) “Vins de Castelló” Benlloc, Associació Intermunicipal de Dinamització i Promoció Econòmica de la Plana de l’Arc Cabanes, Ruta del Vi de Castelló (Federació d’Enoturisme de la Comunitat Valenciana) Valencia and CV Activa – Associació d’empreses de Turisme Actiu i Ecoturisme de la Comunitat Valenciana Figueroles.
But what is MAGDA in reality? Well, technically, MAGDA consists of the installation of 258,622 solar panels in the municipalities of Les Coves de Vinromà, Benlloc and Cabanes. Almost 500 ha of land (500 football fields roughly speaking). The energy generated by these panels would be evacuated through a Very High Voltage line of 53 km, which would include 143 towers, affecting another 10 municipalities: Vilanova d’Alcolea, la Torre d’en Domènec, Alcalà de Xivert, Torreblanca, la Vall d’Alba, Vilafamés, Sant Joan de Moró, Borriol, Castellón de la Plana and Almassora.
MAGDA is one of the 315 installations in the pipeline and 20 authorised in the Valencian Community (according to an article in La Razón, 29 March). Doesn’t all this surface area of solar panels seem a little irrational? Faced with this nonsense, La Plataforma per la Ubicació Racional i Sostenible de les Energies Renovables al Territori Valencià was created in 2021, precisely to put the spotlight on the irrationality with which macro projects were entering the city councils under the protection of Decree 14/2020. Its main objective is the redrafting of this decree and the achievement of moratoriums in the affected councils that allow the modification of the municipal PGOU, protecting undeveloped land with great agricultural, livestock, natural and cultural value. Many of these projects are intended to be carried out there and a moratorium would mean having 2 years to do this work. It is not much, but if the local councils want to, it can be protected. This is exactly what Compromís proposed in the plenary session of Alcalà de Xivert: the modification of the PGOU in May 2021 (it was approved), and the establishment of a moratorium in March 2022 (the PP voted against). Other town councils that have taken this step, approving the moratorium, are: Chella, Carcaixent, Aielo de Malferit, Godelleta, Xixona, Vilafames, Vall d’Alba, Turís, Viver, Catadau, Camporrobles, Chiva, Vall d’Uixó, Betxí, Fontanara and Benlloc.
What would be the solution?
In April 2021, the Generalitat created the “Strategic Plan for Energy Communities 2030” which has made the Valencian Community a pioneer in Spain in the implementation of this model of energy self-consumption; through the Valencian Institute of Business Competitiveness (IVACE) all the Local Energy Communities that are projected can be financed, and can be constituted from a public or private entity or individuals. In other words, a Plan that focuses on SELF-CONSUMPTION. On 21 April we read in Las Provincias Digital that the director of IVACE assured that by installing panels on all available roofs, 18,000 MW would be produced, when the objective for 2030 was to produce 6,000 MW. The City Council of Alcalà de Xivert, at the proposal of Compromís in its motion to promote (at local level) the much needed ENERGY MODEL CHANGE, is setting up its first municipal CEL. This initiative will join the 8 already created in the CV, which are part of the 33 CELs at national level (2021 figures). But be careful, because these figures contrast with the 1,750 in Germany, the 700 in Denmark, some 500 in the Netherlands or 70 in France. On 31 March, Ximo Puig announced the agreement to approve a macro-decree that will speed up the implementation of renewable energies. An agreement that has been signed in extremis, and that the President wanted to approve at all costs, leaving the door open to macro projects. We have not been able to read the final text but we know from the press that, thanks to COMPROMÍS and UNIDES PODEM, territorial protection measures have been incorporated. The CELs are not the definitive solution but they are a good first step.
Personally, I don’t understand why more CELs have not been created in our territory; I don’t understand why the town councils haven’t committed 100% to this model, which would be more rational, democratic, sustainable and respectful. We would not need so many evacuation lines; it would help to reduce the electricity bills of our neighbours; we would help to alleviate energy poverty among citizens; we would generate quality local employment. And of course, everyone, residents or tourists, would be able to enjoy a beautiful landscape, which is not only aesthetically better, but also directly benefits our health.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)