Valencia (EFE).- Thousands of people have demonstrated this Saturday in Valencia to demand ethical and sustainable renewable energies, which do not mean filling the field with cables and towers that kill birds and cause the felling of trees, as well as very serious environmental impacts .
Convened by the Valencian Coordinator for a Rational Location of Renewable Energies, which brings together 50 social associations from 40 municipalities, and under the slogan “Renewables yes, but not like this”, the march started at 12 noon from the Palace of Justice to walk the streets of the city center.
Dressed in black with green crepes, the demonstrators denounce that the programmed wind and photovoltaic macro-plans choose places that are of interest only to large companies and funds, without consensus with the citizens, squandering subsidies that benefit the promoters and harm the towns.
“Not at any price”
In statements to EFE several representatives of these associations have stated that they are in favor of renewables, but “not at any price.”
The conveners consider that the current energy transition model is a “fraud”, since promoters and investment funds “choose the cheapest places in the interior, without discussing it with the citizens and transfer energy tens of kilometers, plaguing the mountains with cables and towers.” ».
In this sense, they have asked that the model proposed by the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge and the Generalitat be paralyzed and that they bet on “truly ethical” renewable energies.
They demand that real planning be carried out, based on efficiency and savings, that respects ecosystems and protected areas, with territorial planning and citizen participation.
They reject the current model because “it is creating a speculative bubble that destroys the local economy and landscapes, in collusion with administrations that resolve quickly and badly, without environmental evaluation, and also contributing public funds from all citizens.”
They denounce that the production areas are planned in rural environments because the land is cheaper and the profitability is higher, far from the large consumption cities of the cities, where, in their opinion, real integrated renewable energies could be created without causing damage. nor aesthetic effects with the latest technological advances.
Harm to rural areas
The Valencian Coordinator for a Rational Location of Renewable Energies also denounces the “waste of hundreds of millions of public subsidies that only benefit a few developers and investment funds and harm the people, generating confrontation.”
The sculptor Miquel Navarro has shared a banner at the head of the demonstration with the members of the Coordination, where he has warned that “today’s bread can be tomorrow’s hunger”.
The author of sculptures such as “El Partoret” or the one known as “Pink Panther” of Valencia, has presented allegations to the wind plan for Zone 9 that intends to surround with 10 windmills, a substation and a tangle of cables the open-air museum that is creating in Siete Aguas.
Speaking to EFE, Navarro stressed that no one would dream of surrounding the Chillida museum with windmills, and has said that he is in favor of renewables from an ecological point of view, but not in the way that is being done.
I support the Council
The Minister of Ecological Transition, Isaura Navarro, also attended the demonstration, who has supported a protest that claims to take care of the territory, the land and agriculture, which is what, according to what she has said, the Council is doing.
He has defended that the Valencian Government is working to invite companies to install wind or photovoltaic parks in the so-called preferential development zones, which are degraded spaces where there is no harm to the territory.
«We do not want them to go to protected areas, natural parks or areas of high agricultural value. It is about finding the balance between the need to bet on that clean energy, and at the same time, continue taking care of our territory », he stated.