Almería wildfire raises questions: power lines that carried no electricity
Power cables dead since 2009 and a planned solar project in the area. The Los Gallardos wildfire in Spain brings together some very convenient coincidences.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
The Los Gallardos wildfire: coincidence or business?
How many wildfires in Spain are declared 'accidental' only for a business interest to turn up behind them? The one in Los Gallardos, in Almería, has all the ingredients. According to a report by El Mundo, the cables that allegedly started the fire had carried no electricity since 2009. That is no minor detail: the official account rests on cables that were not carrying any current.
The solar plant that never arrived
The coincidence is striking. In 2023, the Provincial Council of Almería (Fruta de Almería) published in the BOE (Spain's official state gazette) a project to install a self-consumption photovoltaic plant in the very municipality of Los Gallardos, 85% funded by the EU's NextGenerationEU funds. Meanwhile, minister Bolaños was talking about 'the virulence of climate change'. The fact that the possible beneficiary of the future plant is the Provincial Council itself, or that the project was underway before the fire, proves nothing. But the lack of electricity in the cables suggests the official version needs, at the very least, a review.
In the end, wildfires happen every summer, hardly anyone goes to jail, and there is always a 'local madman' or a heatwave to blame. Here the data suggest the interests are varied: from property speculation to renewable energy projects. And meanwhile, the poor devil who ran the roadside restaurant that closed in 2009 takes the blame. A question of interests, as we all know.
How many wildfires in Spain are declared 'accidental' only for a business interest to turn up behind them? The one in Los Gallardos, in Almería, has all the ingredients. According to a report by El Mundo, the cables that allegedly started the fire had carried no electricity since 2009. That is no minor detail: the official account rests on cables that were not carrying any current.
The solar plant that never arrived
The coincidence is striking. In 2023, the Provincial Council of Almería (Fruta de Almería) published in the BOE (Spain's official state gazette) a project to install a self-consumption photovoltaic plant in the very municipality of Los Gallardos, 85% funded by the EU's NextGenerationEU funds. Meanwhile, minister Bolaños was talking about 'the virulence of climate change'. The fact that the possible beneficiary of the future plant is the Provincial Council itself, or that the project was underway before the fire, proves nothing. But the lack of electricity in the cables suggests the official version needs, at the very least, a review.
In the end, wildfires happen every summer, hardly anyone goes to jail, and there is always a 'local madman' or a heatwave to blame. Here the data suggest the interests are varied: from property speculation to renewable energy projects. And meanwhile, the poor devil who ran the roadside restaurant that closed in 2009 takes the blame. A question of interests, as we all know.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (10 replies).
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