The approval today by the Council of Ministers of the new plan that allows the implementation of offshore wind farms, among other points on the Spanish coast, in front of the Gulf of Roses, has already provoked criticism from various environmental entities that call the affectation that these infrastructures will have on the territory.
In a joint statement Sos Costa Brava, Iaden-Save the Empordà, Save the Platja de Pals, the Forum L’Escala-Empúries and the platform Stop Macro Marine Eòlic Park regret “the lack of action” on the part of the Government of the Generalitat in the “defense of the environmental values ??of this exceptional marine area”, which covers an area of ??250 square kilometers.
The collective announces that they will promote “actions” and “actions in defense” of the affected area and call for the mobilization of society to “save” the Gulf of Roes.
They describe the implementation of offshore wind power as an “aggression” for this area and believe that it will “irreversibly disfigure and alter the Gulf of Roses” and the entire area between Cape Creus and Cape Begur.
The signatory entities point out that, unlike what has happened with the Balearic government and other communities such as the Canary Islands or Andalusia, which have defended their coastline, the Generalitat “has not ruled or made any type of allegation”.
They also point out that the area of ??the Gulf of Roses that appears in the new plan for offshore wind power in Spain was, until today, “an area endowed with special protection” due to its “exceptional natural values”.
In this sense, they consider that this area “which was incompatible with the implementation of large energy infrastructures” has been left “totally unprotected” with the approval of the new Management Plan for Espais Marins de l’Estat (POEM).
The signatories describe as “incomprehensible” that in the last year six different projects for offshore wind farms have been presented in the Gulf of Roses “taking into account that the area was incompatible with the implementation of wind energy.”
In their manifesto of complaint, the ecologists recall the document signed by one hundred scientists that warned of “the exceptional natural and environmental values” of the affected marine space in the Gulf of Roses. The manifesto typified the marine environment between Cape Creus and Cape Begur as “one of the richest in the Mediterranean”.
Environmentalists maintain that the affected marine space is located in the middle of protected areas and state that beyond the “marine impact”, the energy evacuation infrastructures and transformer plants will cause “serious terrestrial impacts” in the three natural parks in the area. .
They remember that the governing bodies of the Natural Park of Cap de Creus, Montgrí, Illes Medes and Baix Ter and Aiguamolls de l’Empordà had already spoken against it.
The signatory entities point out that the project will have a negative impact on areas of the Xarxa Europea Natura 2000, in areas of special protection for birds and cetaceans and that it will entail the construction of infrastructures that will cause “enormous environmental impact” such as an electrical substation and new lines of electricity transmission.
The five environmental entities that sign the document announce new protest actions and summon the government of the Generalitat, the Spanish government to “review” the decision made and rectify its content.
