The avalanche of macro projects of photovoltaic solar installations, in some cases with an affected area close to 200 hectares, has put landscape defenders on notice, given the evidence that such an abundant proliferation of large investments hides a phenomenon of speculation, transferred to the renewable energy sector. Relying on the good image that this type of energy has and the important media and political support, some investment groups have transferred their business space to this field, which can cause devastating consequences from the landscape and social point of view. These macro-installations generate a strong impact and have no impact on the creation of jobs in the rural world, but they represent a source of income that is very difficult to resist, when the economy in the Spanish countryside is so impoverished.
In some of the most beautiful towns in Spain, with an express declaration of Asset of Cultural Interest in some cases or without it, licenses are beginning to be requested for the provision of photovoltaic panels on the roofs of buildings, generating an added concern among the defenders of heritage, who find themselves in a difficult situation when it comes to reporting this type of initiative.
Reconciling a prudent and adjusted arrangement of renewable energy generation facilities, which no one opposes if it is well integrated, with the safeguarding of the landscape and heritage values of our territory, is the object of an article by Víctor García Gil ( AU-ARQUITECTOS, SLP) published in the newspaper El Mundo-Castellón on June 14, 2021.