Parliament unanimously approves fast-track ban on large solar parks

PalmThe Balearic Islands Parliament on Wednesday closed one of the most important backdoors through which the largest solar parks, disfiguring hundreds of hectares of fertile land, have crept in: strategic industrial projects. With the approval of the Industrial Estates Law, the authorization of these large-scale installations is prohibited under the pretext of considering them strategic in nature and, therefore, allowing them to be carried out on a fast-track basis.

This formula has been used since 2019, when the Left Pact approved the Strategic Industrial Projects Law, which included around thirty projects with nearly three million square meters consumed and an installed or pending capacity exceeding 200 MWp.

An amendment from MÁS por Mallorca has succeeded in getting all the groups in the House to support the ban on the fast-track construction of large solar parks. Ferran Rosa, the MP who defended the eco-sovereignty position, explained to ARA Baleares that "it was an obligation to try to stop what has turned out to be a perverse formula, since the projects for large solar parks in themselves are not innovative and, therefore, did not deserve the simplification of procedures they enjoyed. territorial," he stated.

Now, as the regulation has been drafted, only those solar parks that do power a truly innovative installation can be considered strategic industrial projects, but the park itself, if its sole purpose is to generate or store electricity, cannot be considered strategic.

The regulatory modification will now oblige the promoters of these enormous installations to complete the entire process, without any kind of exception or benefit like those offered by the Strategic Projects Law. "Furthermore, these projects will have to obtain a declaration of general interest, since they are being built on rural land," recalled Lluís Apesteguia, spokesperson for the MÉS parliamentary group. Experts assume that this will mean a significant drop in the number of projects, because it is not easy to obtain a declaration of general interest.

Even Vox spokesperson Manuela Cañadas admitted this Wednesday that "although I don't usually agree with MÁS por Mallorca, on this occasion I have to admit that I do," she said about the trona while explaining her vote.

The Law on Strategic Industrial Projects made the processing of macro-parks so easy that in just three years, nearly 30 were approved, most of them during the Pact era. Criticism from environmental organizations, farmers, and affected residents followed, as the territory was being filled with solar panels.while there was no way to promote the solarization of degraded areas""It was a catastrophe, and unfortunately the left wasn't able to change course in time, causing terrible damage to the region," recalls Margalida Rosselló, spokesperson for the platform "Renewables Yes, But Not Like This." A string of projects with a major territorial impact.

In recent years, under the pretext of promoting renewable energy and thanks to the aforementioned Law 14/2019 on strategic projects, more than 20 large-scale installations have been approved on the islands. Among the main projects is Menorca Renovable II, one of the largest wind farms with almost 60 MWp distributed across three blocks occupying nearly 40 hectares. In Mallorca, the Inca, Petra, and Santa Margalida wind farms stand out, totaling approximately 40 MWp and occupying a similar area. Another relevant project is the Mallorca Sostenible wind farm, with nearly 40 MWp and a surface area that can reach up to 79 hectares, combining agricultural activities with photovoltaic production. Also noteworthy is the consolidation of several wind farms in the Palma and Inca regions, which together occupy more than 160 hectares, demonstrating the significant scale of solar deployment in the area.

In addition, the Balearic Islands have approved smaller but significant projects, such as the two wind farms in Ibiza and the Son Salomó wind farm in Menorca. Together, these strategic projects have a combined capacity of nearly 210 MWp and a land area of over 250 hectares.