emptied

The emptied rural Spain has been revealed as the great energy engine of the State

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Spain is a State full of contrasts. At a demographic level, the population density is concentrated in Madrid and coastal cities, that is, 30% of the territory concentrates 90% of the people. It is “tight Spain.” The rest, approximately five million people, occupy 70% of the territory, in the interior of the peninsula. More people consume more resources, which puts two realities on the table: Madrid consumes more and generates less energy than anyone else and that emptied Spain is the energy engine of the State, as the report summarizes “The energy transition in the Spanish rural environment” prepared by Monitor Deloitte. The most striking fact: 84% of renewable energy generation comes from rural environments. Context. In the collective imagination we associate energy production with large nuclear or fossil fuel installations, but nothing is further from current reality. Spain is carrying out an energy transition collected in the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan with the objective of reaching 81% electricity generation from renewables. And it’s on the right track: the report of the Spanish Electrical System of Red Eléctrica for 2023 It showed that it had already exceeded the 50% quota. At specific moments, has reached 100% supply. Listing renewable sources by their importance, we find wind energy prominently, followed by photovoltaic and hydraulic energy. Where. In rural territory, in that sparsely populated place where natural resources and space abound. The report highlights regions such as Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León and Aragón as hubs precisely because of their availability of soil and climatic resources (radiation and wind). Why is it important. Because the State needs that emptied Spain and its resources to successfully carry out its energy transition. Without that territory or its available resources, there is no decarbonization or energy sovereignty. Obviously a paradox occurs: that the most populated places are those that produce the least energy and vice versa, which generates a territorial imbalance. However, this deployment of infrastructure can become an opportunity to promote local employment and thus establish the population. Finally, agrivoltaics is revealed as a way to modernize the agricultural sector, making it possible to make cultivation for food compatible with energy supply, all on the same soil. In figures. In addition to this substantial share of 84% of renewable energy from rural areas, the report reveals other interesting figures: There are 15 provinces with critical population density (

The emptied Spain seemed condemned to depopulation. Until a town in Palencia found a way to avoid it

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until recently Nava walls (Palencia) was a remote town known above all for its heritage and being the birthplace of the poet Jorge Manrique and the painters Peter and Alonso Berruguete. That was until not long ago, we say. In recent days the name of this town in Tierra de Campos has grabbed headlines throughout the country for another reason: against all odds, it has become proof that the ‘Spain emptied’ and the rural peninsula do not have to resign themselves to losing population. In Paredes they have certainly worked a miracle. The most curious thing is that he has done it with a recipe quite obvious. Looking at the INE. Although its tables are basically made up of figures, percentages and rates, from time to time the INE gives us the odd mystery. It happens in Paredes de Nava, Palencia. If we take a look at their census we observe a curious phenomenon: despite the fact that their region (Land of Fields) has spent the last decades losing density of population, in line with much of rural Spain, in recent years Paredes has gained neighbors. In 2023 they were registered in the town 1,985 peoplejust one year later there were 1,911 and in 2025 the observatory already counted 1,927. Is it that curious? Yes. It may not be spectacular growth, but it is striking if two factors are taken into account. First, it breaks the negative trend that Paredes had experienced in recent times, accustomed to losing a few 25 residents every year. Second, the town had not moved in its current population data for quite some time. We have to go back to 2018 to find a better result and the town hopes to reach the psychological barrier of the 2,000 registereda figure that has not been used since 2013. And how is it possible? If the case of Paredes has attracted attention beyond Palencia or Castilla y León, it is because this increase in population is neither coincidental nor the result of chance. On the contrary. Responds to a strategy that already has sparked interest from other towns and relies on two legs: immigration and affordable housing. To understand it, we have to go back to 2024, when the mayor of the town, Luis Calderón, contacted YourTechoa Spanish SOCIMI that seeks solutions to “homelessness and lack of housing.” The entity works in several fields at the same time, but in the rural Their bet basically consists of recovering empty houses to turn them into “accessible” homes for “vulnerable families.” Objective: home… and roots. In practice, this means that they acquire homes and then rent them to the City Council so that they end up being rented to new residents in an initiative with a marked social focus. On walls for example 75% of the beneficiaries are foreigners, especially Latinos. Since the idea is for newcomers to the town to take root, it is easier for them to take root. different shapes. As? Through contracts of leasing for those who need a vehicle or rentals with option to own. And the work? The councilor assures There are no shortage of vacancies in the province. In addition to the Renault factory, livestock and agriculture there are a project to open an olive oil refining factory. “There are plenty of jobs, there are more than 1,200 unfilled, that is without taking into account the social and health needs and those of Renault,” guarantees Calderón, who optimistically awaits the opening of the new oil refining factory: “We are going to need many more houses.” “The solution, in rural areas”. The demographic pulse of the town is not new. It started after the pandemic, when a special office focused on repopulation opened. Years ago he decided to welcome 200 Ukrainian mothers and their children, in 2024 he contacted TuTecho and today he boasts that the town has managed to attract 150 new inhabitants. Of them, a third (49) have arrived thanks to TuTecho, which has in turn acquired 11 homes in the Palencia municipality. Initially the company had acquired only four. “The solution to the country’s main problems, housing and immigration, is in rural areas,” he defended. a few days ago the councilor in statements collected by The Newspaper. The truth is that Paredes’ experience seems to have encouraged other people. Those responsible for TuTecho explain that they have already made the leap to a dozen towns, where they also collaborate with city councils to articulate a residential rental offer that makes possible what for a long time seemed like a pipe dream in emptied Spain: “Restock”. “A bridge between both”. The founder of Tutecho, Blanca Hernández, sums it up clearly: “Depopulation is a challenge, homelessness another. We realized that we can be a bridge between the two,” relates to The Confidential. “It’s about matching the profiles of inhabitants that the town needs with the families that meet those requirements and need a home.” In the case of Paredes, they have even managed to ensure that the school, which until not so long ago seemed on a tightrope, faces the future with some peace of mind. Not bad if you take into account that, as stated in a recent EY report, 48% of the territory Spanish does not reach the European density threshold (12.5 inhabitants per km2) and 80% of small rural municipalities are losing population. Images | Santiago López-Pastor (Flickr) and Wikipedia In Xataka | Empty Spain is now officially one of the quietest places on the planet. There is no risk that it will cease to be

Emptied Spain has been filled with solar mills and panels, but waste energy for a simple reason: there are no cables

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At noon, the sun and the wind are left over in the emptied regions. At dusk, the cities turn on the gas. Spain has run more than anyone raising renewables in the unpopulated territory, but the cables that take them to the demand are not tended at the same speed. The result is a broken bridge: clean energy is born in emptied Spain and does not arrive, when it is necessary, urban Spain. Today, for the first time, the distributors have published the “Map of Plug” for new demand: the photo is stark. The expected map. By mandate of the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC), the great distributors —I-de (Iberdrola), e-Distribution (Endesa), UFD (Naturgy), E-Redes (EDP) and Repsol Distribution— They have published the capacity maps To connect new firm demand to the distribution network. It is an radiography where they show, knot to knot, where there is a hole, what is busy and what is in process. According to the employer Aelēcthe first results confirm that 83.4% of knots are already saturated, which prevents connecting new consumptions such as industries, data centers, storage or electric vehicle recharge. The association itself defines it as “transparency milestone”, but warns that, under these conditions, without investment, the transition is raised. The great territorial neck. Here is the core of the problem. Spain has installed renewables where there is resource and soil: rural regions with low density and little network. However, demand grows in cities: metropolitan areas, logistics corridors, data clusters. In the middle there is an electrical system that does not endure that mismatch, since transport corridors are missing to evacuate surpluses and, above all, distribution capacity to connect the new demand where it is requested. The result is that at noon there are many cheap MWh that are cut or sold at zero price; When the sun falls, the network needs support and the gas enters, Based on pool. The double face of emptied Spain. If the anticipatory network is not remunerated and planned, there will be no industries, CPDs, or recharge of electric vehicles, or hydrogen or storage projects that create employment and set population. But if investigated without criteria, the cost will fall on rates without effective use. The key is agile planning, clear priorities and mechanisms that accelerate reinforcements where demand is plausible: poles such as Aragon, but also Extremadura, Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha or inner Andalusia, where hot knots and curtailment-up to 30% renewable wasted by saturation– They are already common. The demand boom. There is a very illustrative fact: The increase in data centers. Applications to get an access point have multiplied by 80 compared to previous years, According to the Spanish. Among them are technological, great consumers and promoters of hybrids that seek to consume in situ. Aragon has become an epicenter. Only the projected data centers would add more than 2 GW of requested power, with Amazon Web Services, Microsoft or QTS/Blackstone at the head. In this new scenario, the race for a “plug” is no longer limited to first: weigh guarantees, guarantees and project criteria. “Historic traffic jam.” The “complete maps” – without significant hollows – stress even more the pulse with the CNMC. The fear of the sector is double: losing industrial and digital projects (including CPDs) for not being able to connect them and see investment relocation if the jam persists. The electricity story connects that urgency with the regulated remuneration: they argue that with a rate of 6.46% the volume of reinforcements required by the demand wave required, and remember that in other countries (Italy, United Kingdom, Sweden) the reference rates are higher; In Spain, they ask around 7.5%. For its part, the CNMC two proposals presented in July: a financial compensation rate of 6.46% by 2026-2031 (from current 5.58%) and a new distribution methodology that turns towards the Totex model (CAPEX + OPEX). This system includes incentives for efficiency and quality, and league part of the remuneration to the contracted power, to avoid overrredes that end up paying consumers. The regulator insists that the framework must encourage investment without compromising the affordability of the invoice. The forecasts. Access to the distribution network no longer depends only on the order of arrival. The processing requires guarantees, technical draft and guarantees, and a period of one month to present the documentation after reserving a point. The resolutions should be issued in less than six months, with technical support for Red Electric. In addition, scores that value CO₂, investment volume and speed at the beginning of consumption are applied. In parallel, solutions such as battery PPAS arise, which allow to finance storage and take advantage of the cheap electricity at noon at the afternoon, avoiding the resource to gas. But without broader investment limits, as Aelēc claimsthe bridge between rural Spain and urban Spain will remain broken. The PNIEC foresees more than 53,000 million in networks until 2030, although the CNMC defends to maintain the rate at 6.46% for efficiency and affordability, while the sector asks for greater certainty and return. The political context adds pressure: after the rejection of the “Decree antiaps” In July, the dilemma is sharpened. The end point. Spain does not have a sun or wind problem; It has a bridge problem between where it occurs and where it is consumed. Capacity maps have made what the industry had been suffering: the distribution network is at the limit. Without a jump in investment and planning, the transition will be stuck where there are less labor and more territory. If the network does not reach empty Spain, clean energy will not reach rich Spain. The choice is not whether to invest or not, but how, where and with what rules so that the cost does not pay it neither the countryside nor the city, but the economic future of both. Image | Freepik Xataka | The renewable boom clashes with the invisible wall: Spain has more green energy than ever but the system does not endure … Read more

The government emptied a reservoir in Cáceres to eradicate an invading fish. The remedy was worse than the disease

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Just eight months ago, Alcollarín dressed in gala. This small town of Cáceres, with just over 300 neighbors, was presented at the International Tourism Fair of Madrid as a privileged corner to observe birds, throw the cane or walk next to its reservoir, blue mirror in the middle of the pasture. Today, the postcard has completely changed. Where the water was shone before, now a lodazal splashed from dead fish is extended. The air, loaded with a sour smell, reaches the streets of the town. The neighbors speak of “ecological disaster” and look unbelieved towards the dam, while from the Guadiana Hydrographic Confederation defend that the operation was “of vital importance” to protect the future of the basin. The operation that changed everything. The Ministry for Ecological Transition, through the CHG, He started a plan To eradicate the invasive species Pseudorasbora Parva —An known as Chinese fish or Gobio de Boca Túpe -, present at the reservoir and in the Alcollarín River since 2010. Included in the Spanish catalog of invading exotic species and in the European regulation of worrying species for the EU, its control is a legal obligation to prevent its propagation. The plan included months of bearsques with specialized ships and, as a final phase, a “controlled” emptying of the dam to facilitate the capture of specimens. As reported by the CHGthe reservoir was 100 % of its capacity – 50 cubic hectometers, equivalent to 50,000 million liters – before starting the operation. The problem, like They have denounced neighbors and associations to the newspaper Extremadurais that the emptying caused the downstream release of thousands of copies, expanding the species towards the Ruecas and Guadiana rivers. The enemy in the waters of Alcollarín. The Pseudorasbora Parva He arrived in Europe around 1960 and has expanded to more than 30 countries, mainly by introductions linked to aquaculture. In Spain, it was first detected in the Ebro basin in 2002 and, since then, it has colonized sections of Catalonia, Andalusia, Madrid and Extremadura. In the case of Alcollarín, the species was detected in 2010 and, According to the mitecoits density in the reservoir had reached levels that made its complete eradication technically. Even so, the CHG He defended that it was urgent Reduce its population to avoid dispersion towards new channels, especially before the connection planned with the Orellana Canal, and ensure that the reservoir could be used for irrigation and recreational activities “in accordance with current legislation.” Of the catastrophe control. The contract, awarded in June 2024 to the engineering company and technical designs SAU for 787,861.99 euros (without taxes), included several phases of analysis of the pisco fauna, installation of metal containment barriers to avoid leaks, extraction of native species and elimination of invasors, and the controlled emptying of the reservoir. However, According to neighbors and groups such as the Fund for the Defense of Natural and Cultural Heritage of Extremadura (Fondenex)the procedure did not come out as planned. The Captured downstreams overflowed in the critical and “hundreds of thousands” phases of invading specimens escaped towards the wheel and the Guadiana. The drastic drop of the water level, added to the high temperatures, also caused the death of numerous native species, including the barbo, cataloged as vulnerable. The shores were filled with decomposition fish, aquatic birds abandoned the area and the local economy lost, suddenly, a key resource for nature tourism. Crossing accusations. The CHG argues that the operation was planned and executed under the supervision of a “multidisciplinary team of biologists, ambientologists and highly qualified engineers”, As the newspaper has detailedand recognize only a “punctual mortality of Barbos.” He affirms that most native specimens were rescued during previous beings. On the other hand, Fondenex has described in the same medium the action of “ecological nonsense” and accuses the CHG of “manifest negligence” for emptying the reservoir in the middle of summer, without providing urgent uses of water, such as fire extinguishing, and without assessing the impact on protected birds in the Zepa Llanos de Zorita. The group has requested environmental reports and does not rule out file a complaint with the courts. In addition, the neighbors have denounced that “the only positive aspects that a reservoir” have been charged and question the use of “massive and non -selective” methods prohibited by the Nature Conservation Law. Forecasts Once the presence of Pseudorasbora Parvathe CHG plans to reintroduce native species with the collaboration of the Board of Extremadura and maintain barriers and controls in future unwins. However, environmental groups warn that the ecological and tourist recovery of the reservoir will take years, and that the invading fish is already present in sections of the wheels and the Guadiana where it had not arrived before. An open question. In Alcollarín, official versions and citizen perceptions diverge radically: for administration, it is a necessary technical operation; For many neighbors, of an “environmental catastrophe” that has multiplied the problem. Beyond the specific case, the episode raises a dilemma that transcends Extremadura: what environmental and social cost are we willing to assume to stop a biological invasion when total eradication is practically impossible? Image | Chgguadiana and B. Schoenmakers Xataka | Water restrictions return in the northwest. It is the logical conclusion of a trend that comes from afar

In the emptied Galicia there are municipalities taking care of gas stations and shops. THE OBJECTIVE: Don’t run out of services

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The Emptied Spain It is depopulated Spain, but also the one that is emptied from companies and services. Both, the Lack of neighbors And the absence of businesses that cover their most basic needs, are part of the same vicious circle that in the long run the peoples to abandonment. In Galicia They have decided Breaking that loop with a curious movement. To avoid running out of supermarkets or gas stations there are municipalities that are taking care of their management. The objective: that the neighbors should not move kilometers for something as simple as buying the bread. Even at the cost of the City Council itself assume private services. The ghost of depopulation. The depopulation He is one of the great ghosts of the rural of Spain. And Galicia is no exception. A few months ago his Consello de Contas He issued A report in which he warned that in the community (especially in the provinces of Lugo and Ourense) there are almost a hundred towns in ‘danger of extinction’, a status that is explained by a combination of factors: a register below the 5,000 inhabitants, a low population density (less than 20%) and more deaths than births. INE himself calculates that in 2021 there were almost 25,700 Gallegos residing in municipalities that do not pass from the thousand registered. According to his nomenclator, in the community there are also around 1,900 depopulated villagesmany of them in Lugo. Only in 2023 it is estimated that the province lost about 40. Other populations are still alive but with a handful of hundreds of neighbors and having lost much in a short time. To name a case, Murasin the Terra Cha, I had 1,151 neighbors In 2000. In 2024 were 600. A vicious circle. We commented before. The localities of emptied Spain do not remain alone without neighbors. They often do it also without businesses that cover their needs. And one and the other, that of inhabitants and services, feed a vicious circle that ends up accelerating the emptying of the peoples. Although there is experts That they conclude that at general “accessibility to services” in Spain is good, especially if we talk about health and education, they also recognize that differences arise when the provincial scale is lowered. A quick search arrives on Google to find Complaints of populations about the public transport or lack of something as simple as bars and shops. And how to solve it? A question similar to that was asked a while ago in Pol and Ribeira de Piquíntwo localities of the rural of the province of Lugo that together barely go from the 2,000 residents. The first, Pol, has 1,542 registered, 27% less than in 2000. The second, Ribeira de Piquín, had about 500 residents, 80% less than at the beginning of this century. Both municipalities share Another featurein addition to the province and a diminishing census: given the loss of basic businesses their respective municipalities have decided to step forward and guarantee the continuity of private services. A kind of municipalization which aims to prevent your neighbors from having to look for life for issues as basic as buying bread. Their cases have attracted the interest of media such as The voice of Galicia either Eldiario. A “municipal” supermarket. In the case of Pol the Consistory he found the risk that The only supermarket From the town, located in the population of Mosterio, closed. Its owner retired and in the absence of relief or other shopkeepers that would like to transfer it, the panorama was complicated for the neighbors who reside there. “No one was interested in carrying it. It was deserted,” explained in December Its mayor, Lino Rodríguez, Progress. The City Council solution: Buy the super To keep it open. It is not yet known How will it manage, through a foundation, attracting a franchise or with an autonomous, but the goal is clear: to guarantee the continuity of the service. “We acquired the entire block, which has an area of ​​about 800 m2, for a total of 150,000 euros,” Rodríguez added In December. The project went ahead with the support of the Diputación and aspires to go beyond trade: Pol wants to recover an old sausage mark and create social housing at the top. At the end of last year the town had already paid 75,000 euros for the premises, it hoped to pay a similar sum of 2025 and already thought about furniture and facilities to serve customers. “We need to acquire the material goods of the interior, such as refrigerators, freezers and cold cameras. But throughout 2025 we will try to prepare the charcería,” He reported. OBJECTIVE: Refers in the town. In Ribeira de Piquín, the City Council has also moved to preserve a key service, although in this case the focus is on a gas station. At the end of 2024 the Consistory was in process for rent an already built service area but it carries more than a decade closed The idea is reopen it in 2025 and that the neighbors do not have to move to another town to replace or look for fuel. The project is carried out through the Terreo Foundationparticipated by the City Council, and with support of the Diputación de Lugo, which provides funds through an agreement. The rent will be done through a direct award procedure, Precise Progressand once completed the idea of ​​the City Council is to adapt the station to the regulations to register it. In the budget they also reserve funds to hire full -time personnel who can take care of the suppliers and serve users. Is it an isolated case? No. The gas station will not be the only (or first) project that is promoted with the terreo lever. Before it was launched A fish farma livestock exploitation and even a kiwi plantation. “The municipalities as small as we have many difficulties for the private initiative to come and invest. Hence we have no other option … Read more

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