As crazy as the header sounds, it is true, in essence, the Spanish Government is holding the sun for ransom and I reported on this subject back in July 2013 when this topic first hit the media. At the time, a government official claimed when asked about the new draft of the decree that the goal is to “balance the electric system in a definitive way, to prevent new instabilities and guarantee the consumer’s electric supply at the lowest price possible and in a more transparent way”. These new measures would see a raise in tariffs (what has been called “sun tax”) for those who generate their own electricity at home despite efforts made in numerous countries to increase awareness for green power, not Spain however. This country’s officials prefer to penalize those who take the initiative to do something pro-environment and even go as far as taxing a source of energy that no one person, no institution, government nor monarchy has ownership of.
Even though this issue has been back in the media recently, it was back in April when Mariano Rajoy’s government made many installations of sun generated power illegal when new legislation was passed unless they are brought up to the new code meaning that if this is not done, the owners could be penalized with fines between 6 million and 60 million euros on top of the even more ludicrous sun tax. This move to prohibit free use of the sun’s awesome energy is a bid to appease Iberdrola and other electricity suppliers states a spokesperson for Greenpeace. The worst of it is that the Industry Ministry has not done much at all to detail how exactly interested persons may fulfill with the ridiculously complex technical requirements to modify the installations making it near impossible for these to even attempt to legalize existing installations.
Around this time last year an article that reported on the first recorded arrest in this regard went viral but it would appear to be false. One of the reasons that would suggest this is that non-fulfillment of the new legislation is not a criminal offense so the person involved would not have been detained, rather fined. We still have to see what the outcome of this motion will be but thousands of people are opposed to it and will continue fighting against it as you will see at the end of this article.
Fuerteventura has had its own story when it comes to fighting the powers that be with the proposed oil platform scare. On an island with more than sufficient space and means to develop other forms of energy, it would appear these are not encouraged. We have sun, wind and sea at our fingertips, yet we insist on using crude methods to power our homes and our cars instead of seeking cleaner alternatives when these are available to us.
On a planet where ONE country can claim rights to the energy the sun provides for FREE, we must have been transported to a parallel universe where crazy reigns supreme! In a sun-filled country, it is just unthinkable for the government to hinder initiatives to channel it for our own betterment and use renewable energies from a source that will never run out.
Greenpeace has initiated a petition against the motion and request more time is given to consumers to comply with the new legislation so as to avoid unnecessary and unfair penalties. I’ve signed. Have you?
