Eco-laundering rules in the City Councilâ€, says Santiago Vilanova, writer, journalist, one of the founders of the first ecological party in Spain, who heads the candidacy of Els Verds-Alternativa Verda, the only party that presents itself as an ecological option for the next municipal elections of 28-M in Barcelona. Vilanova takes this step –he says– by noting that “green washing†has taken over large institutions, such as the City Council and the Generalitat. And he sees it necessary, more than ever, to recover the essence of the proposals of political environmentalism, at a time when “the concept of sustainability has been emptied.”
Vilanova –author of several books on environmentalism– announces his candidacy after having witnessed how the division of environmental forces for decades and the attempts of other formations to engulf his ideas made green parties irrelevant in Spain.
And why this return? Vilanova says that the “blah blah of sustainability and its advertising sophistry, which hide obsolete and continuist governance structures” must be overcome. And, in this sense, he gives as an example the “contradictions between the different mayoral offices in Barcelona, ​​where the different models and interests block decisions”, especially between those of Ecology and Mobility, and Economy and Competitiveness; or between Climate Emergency and Tourism. “Some want more tourism and others don’t; some want to solve the problem of traffic and pollution, and others want there to be more tourists, â€he sums up.
Vilanova summarizes that “propaganda does not solve the serious problem of air pollution” in Barcelona. The municipal action of these years has not prevented the Catalan capital from being condemned by the Court of Justice of the European Union for excessive pollution. Air pollution, he maintains, “is solved by reducing the use of the car by 30% through a comprehensive plan: measures that promote public transport, parking at the entrances to the city, electric cars and recharging, La Sagrera station, transport of goods by rail…â€, he relates.
He is not against the superblocks promoted by the City Council, since they can serve to “favor the pedestrian”, but these “do not globally solve the problem of mobility or pollution”, he stresses. He also dismisses the low emission zones as a “failure”, which he attributes to “the lack of social agreement”. “If we do not move towards a comprehensive plan for non-polluting mobility, there will be no choice but to implement the urban toll”, he says. He is clear that the solutions require more participation and popular consultations (as Paris has done with the scooters).
When asked what is the first thing he would do in Barcelona, ​​he answers that closing the Sant Adrià incinerator (investigated by the Prosecutor’s Office for generating dangerous dioxin emissions) and prioritizing a solar ordinance to “facilitate the installation of photovoltaic energy, including aid, IBI bonuses and speeding up the procedures to install solar roofsâ€.
At this point, he calls for a metropolitan pact to mitigate climate change and promote ecological transition, with the participation of all agents, including the port and the airport, “because without this joint work it is not possible to combat global warming.” And for the same reason he demands a reduction in cruises; questions the role of the port in hosting the methane tankers that bring gas (fracking) from the United States, and rejects the fallacy of renewable hydrogen (“how will we produce it, with green energy gas from Aragon?â€), especially if it is generated with nuclear power, as France wishes.
His candidacy has included the proposals of UNEF-Cat (self-consumption with renewables), the ADDA association (new animal shelter, sufficient spaces for dogs…) and the AireNet platform (recycling). Also in her candidacy are Pilar SentÃs, ecofeminist; José Luis Freijo, promoter of the Ecologist Confederation; Xavier Garcia, writer; Odina Capo, or Josep LluÃs Berdonces, naturalist doctor.
For Vilanova it is essential that the city assume its “ecological footprint”. Remember that each Barcelonan consumes products and services equivalent to an area of ​​more than 3.2 hectares of land per year (space necessary to provide themselves with food, energy products, infrastructure and forests to offset emissions…) and that “without this Information cannot plan the future of the city, which cannot be left at the mercy of what the market saysâ€. It is obvious, for him, that “degrowth is the smart way to face energy challenges, the lack of resources and the realization that we have exceeded the carrying capacity.”
Alternativa Verda became the first non-parliamentary party in votes, “until Iniciativa per Catalunya added the generic verds to its name to be called ICV, which confused the electorateâ€. Like 30 years ago, he regrets that there is no confederal ecologist candidacy for all of Spain.
