The town hall is opposed to this project and so are the environmentalists GOB, whose spokesperson, Margalida Ramis, attended a meeting of residents and town hall representatives. In her view, the Sa Pobla town hall decision to request an injunction against the project will not be the last. The Sa Pobla project will occupy 43,000 square metres. Compared to some other projects, its scale is quite modest, but Ramis says that town halls are now being faced with small projects, all private sector ones, that have the approval of the Balearic government. The town hall is leading the fight in Sa Pobla, and Ramis says that opposition is gathering momentum in other municipalities - Muro is one.
GOB claim that the government is “imposing” solar projects on municipalities, Ramis arguing that there has been no “territorial planning” for them. In the absence of in-depth planning and evaluation for prioritising locations, a whole series of small projects have been approved and given the go-ahead.
A problem for Sa Pobla town hall in applying for the injunction is that the project has been declared a public utility, which is one of the means at the government’s disposal to make bureaucracy more flexible and also ensure that projects happen. As the director-general for energy, Pep Malagrava, has explained: “In June 2022, we informed the town hall and the Council of Mallorca of the project and the declaration of public utility. The Council responded, but we didn’t receive any submissions or reports from the town hall, so its agreement was taken to be legally understood.”
So, had the town hall responded last June, might the situation now be different? Why didn’t it respond (according to the government)? The main opposition party, the Partido Popular, says that the project was raised at a council meeting on December 1. They, the PP, were told that the town hall didn’t have any power in the matter. Two days later, the declaration of public utility was made in the Official Bulletin of the Balearics. The PP’s spokesperson, Violeta Rodríguez, suspects that the appeal by the town hall may now be too late, as there is only so much time for such a challenge.
Has the fact that the project is now becoming more of a reality stung the town hall (and residents) into action? Malagrava has expressed his surprise at the courts being involved, given the information that was supplied some ten months ago. He has acknowledged that transition to renewable energy is likely to create some “tensions”. But he insists that the public must be aware that it is necessary to use land such as that in Sa Pobla. It’s not possible to create the necessary infrastructure by, for example, putting panels on roofs.
And he’s right of course. The transition, with more or less all renewable eggs having been placed in a solar basket, is a huge undertaking that requires a huge amount of land, some of it in peri-urban areas (as is the case in Sa Pobla), i.e. areas at the outer limits of urban centres that form a transition of their own into rural land. But the energy transition, as we know, isn’t to be solely reliant on renewables in Mallorca and the Balearics. Eliminating all fossil fuel use on the island also entails electricity supply from the mainland. And in this regard, there are greater tensions and there is a much bigger fight in Alcudia, where the cable is similarly viewed as an imposition.
Reconciling resident views and energy infrastructure is proving to be anything but straightforward.
The Alcudia fishermen without a fair
The sepia (cuttlefish) gastronomy event that was held last weekend in Puerto Alcudia was, said the town hall, “a great success”. There were some 20,000 visitors, according to the police. But what gastronomy did these visitors enjoy? Yes, it was cuttlefish, but where had it come from?
When the sepia “mostra” and the boat show were first held in 2006, they were a response to a demand for the port to have its own fair. Among those who made the demand were the fishermen. The event would showcase a traditional catch. However, it didn’t take long for the fishermen to feel aggrieved. This was because the local bars and restaurants weren’t buying their cuttlefish. As one restaurant owner explained to me, he would buy locally, but it was too expensive. He and many others were buying from wholesalers.
On and off, this tension has existed ever since. For this year’s fair, the fishermen told the town hall that they wouldn’t be taking part at all. They weren’t even going to cook up their own sepia ‘fideuà’, as they have done for previous editions.
The local cuttlefish costs some four euros per kilo more than imports which, the fishermen argue, aren’t subject to the same health inspections. They didn’t want to get into a row with the local restaurants, “who are free to buy what they want”, but nor did they want any involvement in the event. Only two to three restaurants, they say, are regular buyers of the local catch.
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I know someone who believes that solar panels emit a secret radiation. Apparently some "expert" has determined that solar panels made in China have secret chips that emit secret mind control radiation. And for this reason, she refuses to go anywhere near them. I do wonder whether these are the same people who would otherwise be first in line to protest the use of fossil fuels.