Now there are solar panels and 50% more inhabitants

Crossing the interior of the Iberian Peninsula today is getting used to a landscape increasingly dominated by immense plains of glass and silicon. The proliferation of macro photovoltaic parks in the so-called “emptied Spain” is usually accompanied by a bitter and repetitive narrative: towns that give up their lands to large companies in exchange for a mirage that does not stop the rural exodus.

However, what happens in Belinchón (Cuenca) completely breaks this script.

A demographic jump of 50%. For a municipality in the interior of the peninsula, Belinchón’s figures border on science fiction. According to INE datathe town hit rock bottom in 2017 with just 314 inhabitants. Today, in 2026, the population exceeds 470 residents. It is an increase of practically 50% in less than a decade.

This “boom” has an economic explanation. The municipality has given up 1,200 of its 8,000 hectares to install a 600 MW photovoltaic hub, divided into 12 plants. This immense infrastructure has allowed the City Council to multiply its budget by 30, going from a survival economy to managing three million euros annually. The philosophy behind this resurgence is summarized by the mayor in his interview with The World: “We don’t want to tell people to come live in Belinchón; we are trying to make a Belinchón so that people want to come.”

The local welfare state. The case of this Cuenca town serves to dispel some widespread myths. As the analyst Alejandro Diego Rosell reflects in your LinkedIn accountthere is a popular belief that “photovoltaics fills land with panels, but leaves no wealth or local employment.” Rosell uses precisely the example of Belinchón to demonstrate that, although long-term maintenance does not generate thousands of jobs, the immense tax revenues for municipal coffers radically transform the lives of residents for decades.

With this three million budget, the City Council has woven an enviable welfare network. As detailed The World200,000 euros per year are allocated to direct social aid: 1,500 euros per student, a baby check of 1,500 euros, 500 euros for glasses, 2,000 for dental expenses, in addition to subsidies to improve the accessibility of housing and support for local businesses. All this, keeping taxes to a minimum. Even at the infrastructure level, the construction of the modern Center of Light and Knowledge and a state-of-the-art gym stands out.

The next step. Belinchón does not stop at renting its lands; Now it wants the energy to directly impact the electricity bills of its inhabitants. According to PV Magazinethe City Council put out to tender the “Municipal Solar Self-Consumption Project” at the beginning of the year. It is a 600 kW installation structured in six blocks, equipped with cutting-edge technology (Trina modules and Huawei inverters), with an estimated value of almost 600,000 euros. As detailed Renewable Energiesthis new plant will allow residents to benefit from a very significant reduction in their electricity bill, which will range between 70% and 80%.

But the great challenge for the future, as López Castejón confesses to The Worldis to attract industry. “Closing the circle is generating electricity, storing it and consuming it with electro-intensive industry,” he says. The town demands that the companies that are going to consume that energy settle on the adjacent lands to generate, now, hundreds of permanent jobs. “Nobody opens a restaurant if there are no customers,” says the mayor.

The global impact. To understand the magnitude of what is happening in Belinchón, we must look beyond its borders. The solar plants in this Cuenca municipality are playing a key role in the international green economy.

According to ANDl Economistthe company Zelestra has recently launched the Belinchón I, II and III projects (162 MW in total). Production is supported by the program Energize (managed by Schneider Electric), which means that Belinchón’s sun is serving to directly decarbonize global giants in the pharmaceutical industry, such as Takeda, Teva or UCB.

The right to dream in emptied Spain. Beyond the megawatts, the tons of CO2 avoided and the millions of euros, Belinchón’s main achievement is intangible. As illustrated by the report The Worldphotovoltaics have given back to the people “the ability to dream.”

Mayor López Castejón once again lets his vocation emerge to explain his long-term vision. “As we firefighters say, every big fire has a small beginning,” he says. In the case of Belinchón, that small spark has been the sun, and it has served to ignite a future that, just a few years ago, seemed completely off.

Image | Antalexion

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