Before the war over the water of La Albufera de València began with Minister Teresa Ribera, the head of the Consell, Carlos Mazón, already announced that the Generalitat Valenciana will use “disproportionate megaplants” of renewable energy projected in the Valencian Community with the endorsement of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition that it directs.
Mazón also spoke in that appearance about the Government’s “desires to attack our territory.” An idea, that of “the defense of the territory” that is now included by the Castellón Provincial Council, also governed by the PP, with a call for aid to those who argue against said macroplants. And the institution has just opened a call for aid so that municipalities that use 2024 mega solar energy plants this year can request a subsidy to cover part of those expenses. It can be requested by those municipalities in the province of Castellón that are affected by megaplant projects, both solar energy plants and their evacuation infrastructure, in their territorial area.
The deadline has been open since last May 5 and involves aligning the institution with the demands of environmental movements and agricultural associations opposed to the massive implementation of renewable projects in the interior of Castellón.
A few months ago, hundreds of people demonstrated in Valencia, with the help of organizations such as Defend our roots (Les Useres), Nostra Terra (Les Coves de Vinromà), Per un Cabanes viu (Cabanes), Junts per la Terra (la Vall d’Alba) and La terra, casa nostra (Vilafamés), to claim a “rational arrangement” for its implementation in more than twenty Valencian counties, many of them in the province of Castellón.
The objective of this line opened by the Castellón Provincial Council, endowed with 200,000 euros and which will allow each city council to access aid of up to 20,000 euros, is the “defense of the territory”, an idea that was valued by the president of the institution, Marta Barrachina, prioritizing in her first weeks in office meeting with municipal representatives affected by this type of mega solar energy plant projects. “This aid is a reflection of our commitment to go hand in hand with the municipalities of our province and reinforce our aid with the aim of protecting the interests of citizens,” she stressed a few days ago.
With this call, the subsidies awarded are intended to defray the costs of technical and/or legal advice in the process of allegations for projects of “mega solar energy plants that are developed in the territory”, as is the case of Magda, a planned project in Les Coves de Vinromà and whose city council is against it.
The measure was approved on April 23 and published on May 4, and the deadline is open until July 1. In this first resolution, the maximum amount to be granted will be 100,000 euros, and in the second resolution – whose term will be from July 2 to October 21, 2024 – the maximum amount to be granted will also be 100,000 euros.