Latest news with #AlbertoNúñezFeijóo
Al Etihad
5 days ago
- Climate
- Al Etihad
At least 16 major forest fires raging in Spain
15 Aug 2025 20:34 Madrid (dpa) Firefighters in Spain continued to battle major forest fires in at least 16 locations on Friday, as the country reels from one of its most devastating summers yet, according to the Interior of smaller blazes are also raging in several regions, the ministry Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said the state would provide all necessary means to fight the flames, in comments to state broadcaster danger of further forest fires remains high due to the ongoing heat and drought, he have destroyed 157,000 hectares of forest and bushland in Spain since the start of the year, according to official estimates, with 115,000 hectares burnt in August alone so least 12,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in the hard-hit regions of Castilla y León, Galicia and Extremadura, with the worst fires raging in the relatively sparsely populated north-west of the country. Meanwhile, firefighters continue to try to bring the largest forest fire ever recorded in Spain under control, which has already destroyed some 38,000 hectares in the Zamora region. Three firefighters have been killed this month while battling the flames. Many emergency forces are said to be exhausted after being deployed for up to 20 hours on fires have sparked a dispute between the government and the opposition camp, with both sides accusing each other of having failed to ensure sufficient preparation and equipment for some affected citizens have been complaining about a lack of support, with videos circulating online showing residents trying to save their homes from the flames using garden addition to climate change, experts cited by Spanish media attributed the intensity of the fires to the rural exodus of the past decades, which they said had fuelled the spread of vegetation which the flames were feeding leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo has called for a larger military contingent to be deployed to help fight the fires, after a special military firefighting unit was sent in a few days ago. Grande-Marlaska assured the affected regions that all necessary assistance would be provided, after he had previously requested help from the European Union, leading France to send two firefighting planes.
El Chorouk
12-07-2025
- Politics
- El Chorouk
Spanish Popular Party Confuses the Moroccan Regime
A Spanish political stance critical of Madrid's involvement in the crisis that erupted with Algeria nearly three years ago has led to vehement measures and decisions taken by the Moroccan regime and some of its political wings, such as the Istiqlal Party, aimed at discouraging Spain from any rapprochement with Algeria. During its general conference last week, the Spanish conservative Popular Party (PP), the country's largest political force, affirmed its support for UN efforts to resolve the Western Sahara issue. It also denounced the position of the Pedro Sánchez government, which supports Morocco's colonial project in Western Sahara, which has been included among the territories subject to decolonisation for more than six decades. During the conference, party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo advocated for balanced relations with Algeria, a pivotal state in the North African region. The Polisario Front was also invited to participate in the conference, and its representative in Madrid, Abdallah Larabi, received a special reception, shocking the Moroccan regime. In response to this position by the conservative Popular Party in Spain, the Alawite regime in Rabat closed the two customs offices in the cities of Ceuta and Melilla. These offices were among the terms of the Rabat-Madrid agreement more than three years ago regarding the Western Sahara issue. Furthermore, Nizar Baraka, Secretary-General of the Moroccan Istiqlal Party, sent a written letter to the Secretary-General of the Popular Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, demanding that he clarify his party's position on the Western Sahara issue. In the letter, the party expressed 'deep concern over the lack of clarity in the Popular Party's position on the Western Sahara issue.' The Istiqlal Party, known for its expansionist and colonialist positions, also expressed its surprise that the Spanish People's Party, 'despite its political weight and affiliation with the European People's Party (PPE),' did not support the proposals for the autonomy plan presented by the Moroccan regime in 2007, according to the letter. Commenting on the panic that gripped the Moroccan regime and its political wings following the Spanish Popular Party's stance, political analyst and researcher at the University of Seville, Mohamed Bachir Lahcen, believes that 'foreign policy is the responsibility of the Moroccan regime, and no party official can take action without the approval of the regime, which considers parties merely its political arms.' The researcher at the University of Seville explained that 'the Moroccan regime sent a message through the Istiqlal Party, an expansionist ruling party. Therefore, I believe the Moroccan regime is dissatisfied with the actions of the Spanish Popular Party, which is considered the most likely to win the upcoming elections. This would return the Spanish position on the Western Sahara issue to square one'. It is well known that the Spanish conservative Popular Party won the legislative elections held approximately two years ago. However, its failure to achieve an absolute majority enabled the ruling Socialist Party to build alliances that kept it in power. Current opinion polls indicate that it will lead the next government after the legislative elections, because the ruling Socialist Party is deeply entangled in corruption cases, both within the Prime Minister's family (his wife is implicated in a corruption case) and within the party itself, with prominent leaders also implicated in corruption scandals. Mohamed Bachir Lahcen believes that 'the Moroccan regime's anger with the Spanish Popular Party is also due to its invitation to the Polisario Front's representative in Spain, Abdallah Larabi, to attend the conference and sit among the party's senior leaders. This is a provocative tactic aimed at threatening the Spanish authorities from changing their position on the Western Sahara issue, after the Moroccan regime believed that matters had been settled'. Regarding the Spanish party's options for dealing with Algeria and the Western Sahara issue if it comes to power, the researcher at the University of Seville, Spain, confirmed that 'it will not succumb to blackmail and will strive to build a balanced relationship with Algeria, unlike the government of Pedro Sánchez, which eliminated the accumulations of Madrid's historical policy of neutrality on this sensitive issue. It is worth noting that the Popular Party had strongly criticised the Sánchez government's shift in position on Western Sahara more than three years ago, which, as is well known, caused a severe crisis with Algeria'. Mohamed Bachir Lahcen explained that the Moroccan regime is keen to ensure that Madrid's positions are in line with its decisions regarding the Western Sahara issue and relations with Algeria. This is something the conservative Popular Party has not done, unlike the Socialist Party, whose history is replete with betrayals of the Western Sahara issue since the 1980s'. Bachir Lahcen concluded that 'the government of Pedro Sánchez must explain to the Spanish people today why the Moroccan regime closed the customs crossings in the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, even as it repeatedly speaks of good relations with Rabat. Sánchez is deeply embarrassed in the eyes of public opinion in his country, because what happened is considered a major insult to the government in Madrid and the Spanish people after this move.'
Euractiv
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Euractiv
Spanish centre-right leader ready to work with far-right Vox
MADRID – The Spanish opposition People's Party (PP) would not apply a 'cordon sanitaire' to the far-right Vox party in government, PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo said on Sunday. At the close of the two-day PP Congress in Madrid, where Núñez Feijóo was re-elected with almost 100% of the votes, the right-wing opposition leader made it clear that he does not exclude governing with Vox, Spanish news agency Servimedia reported. Vox, a member of the Patriots for Europe (PfE) group in the European Parliament, is the third largest force in Madrid. Vox's voters, the PP leader stated, "deserve respect", and he is not willing to "corner them". For the PP there are only two major red lines, Núñez Feijóo reiterated. The party will not sign a pact with EH Bildu (considered by some in the right-wing and far-right camp to be the political heir of ETA), nor with the current leadership of the governing Socialist Party. The PP would only be willing to dialogue with EH Bildu if the Basque separatist party apologises to all the victims of ETA (estimated at more than 850) and helps to shed light on its crimes, the PP leader said. Recent corruption cases, coupled with an internal scandal in the PSOE, have emboldened the PP (which also experienced serious corruption cases in the past), fuelling its electoral expectations. However, according to some polls, the PP would not be able to govern alone and would need Vox. A general election is not due until 2027, but Sánchez has faced pressure to call snap elections in response to the recent scandals dogging his government. PP and Vox already govern in several regions and municipalities in Spain, although they are separated by several sensitive issues, including the PP's migration policy, which Vox considers too soft.
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Renewable energy to blame for Spain's blackouts, official investigation finds
Spain's disastrous national blackout was triggered by solar farms switching off in response to plummeting power prices, an official investigation has found. A government report into Europe's biggest power cut found that Spain's solar farms were generating so much power on April 28, a particularly sunny day, that prices became 'negative' – meaning there were no profits to be made in operating them. Plunging prices triggered a mass switch-off, which sent voltage and frequency fluctuations cascading across the national grids of both Spain and Portugal. Back-up systems meant to guard against such fluctuations were not in effect. This caused blackouts that left more than 60m people across the Iberian peninsula without power, the Spanish government report concluded. The power cut caused massive gridlock in cities and left thousands stranded on trains and in elevators across the Iberian peninsula. Several deaths were also linked to the incident. Experts said in the immediate aftermath of the power cut that a reliance on net zero energy had left Spain and Portugal vulnerable to the blackouts because of the way renewable power is generated. However, Spain's Left-wing government has repeatedly insisted that green energy was not to blame. Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of the opposition People's Party (PP), said ministers were 'so intent on being the greenest in the world that you have led Spaniards into the dark', the BBC reported. The investigation's findings will fuel concerns about Britain's race to net zero, led by Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary. Mr Miliband wants to make Britain's energy system carbon-free by 2030, a shift that would see the country rely almost entirely on renewable energy, such as wind, solar and nuclear to keep the lights on. Critics say more time is needed to ensure the grid is resilient and prepared for the huge shift. The Spanish report, made public on Tuesday, described how the power cut, which occurred shortly after midday, had been preceded by unusual voltage fluctuations across the Spanish grid from roughly 10am onwards. Those fluctuations correlated with abrupt reductions in solar generation, which were probably driven by solar farms switching off as wholesale power prices fell. This coincided with other, wider changes such as an abrupt drop in the amount of power being exported to France. While the solar switch-off appears to be the immediate trigger for the blackouts, investigators blamed the country's grid operator Redeia for failing to calculate the correct mix of energy generation needed to prevent a blackout. Redeia disputed that finding, saying voltages had always been within set limits. Investigators also attributed a portion of blame to power plant operators. Some had been paid to keep nuclear and gas-fired power stations in operation to stabilise the system but had turned down those plants too in order to save money. Sara Aagesen, Spain's energy minister, said power plants 'should have controlled voltage and, moreover, many of them were economically remunerated to do so. They did not absorb all the reactive power that was expected'. Redeia rejected any blame and said it was the fault of power plants. Concha Sanchez, operations chief, told a news briefing: 'Had conventional power plants done their job in controlling the voltage there would have been no blackout.' Beatriz Corredor, the company's chairman, said Redeia will release its own full report on the causes of the outage. Duncan Burt, who previously worked for National Grid and is now chief strategy officer at Reactive Technologies, said many of the recommendations on reinforcing the country's power grids in the Spanish report already had been implemented in the UK. 'This kind of event would be very unlikely to happen in the UK because its grid operators have already invested a lot in voltage control equipment and measuring systems for inertia,' he said. 'The UK is further ahead than Spain in its energy transition.' A spokesman for Solar Energy UK, the industry trade body, said: 'The major lesson is that the grid needs to be reinforced as renewable generation expands, as is happening here. 'The Spanish grid lacked utility-scale battery capacity and grid-forming inverters, which is unlike the UK electricity networks.' Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Telegraph
18-06-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Renewable energy to blame for Spain's blackouts, official investigation finds
Spain's disastrous national blackout was triggered by solar farms switching off in response to plummeting power prices, an official investigation has found. A government report into Europe's biggest power cut found that Spain's solar farms were generating so much power on April 28, a particularly sunny day, that prices became 'negative' – meaning there were no profits to be made in operating them. Plunging prices triggered a mass switch-off, which sent voltage and frequency fluctuations cascading across the national grids of both Spain and Portugal. Back-up systems meant to guard against such fluctuations were not in effect. This caused blackouts that left more than 60m people across the Iberian peninsula without power, the Spanish government report concluded. The power cut caused massive gridlock in cities and left thousands stranded on trains and in elevators across the Iberian peninsula. Several deaths were also linked to the incident. Experts said in the immediate aftermath of the power cut that a reliance on net zero energy had left Spain and Portugal vulnerable to the blackouts because of the way renewable power is generated. However, Spain's Left-wing government has repeatedly insisted that green energy was not to blame. Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of the opposition People's Party (PP), said ministers were 'so intent on being the greenest in the world that you have led Spaniards into the dark ', the BBC reported. The investigation's findings will fuel concerns about Britain's race to net zero, led by Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary. Mr Miliband wants to make Britain's energy system carbon free by 2030, a shift that will see the country rely almost entirely on renewable energy, such as wind, solar and nuclear to keep the lights on. Critics say more time is needed to ensure the grid is resilient and prepared for the huge shift. The Spanish report, made public on Tuesday, described how the power cut, which occurred shortly after midday, had been preceded by unusual voltage fluctuations across the Spanish grid from roughly 10am onwards. Those fluctuations correlated with abrupt reductions in solar generation which were probably driven by solar farms switching off as wholesale power prices fell. This coincided with other wider changes such as an abrupt drop in the amount of power being exported to France. While the solar switch-off appears to be the immediate trigger for the blackouts, investigators blamed the country's grid operator Redeia for failing to calculate the correct mix of energy generation needed to prevent a blackout. Redeia disputed that finding, saying voltages had always been within set limits. Investigators also attributed a portion of blame to power plant operators. Some had been paid to keep nuclear and gas-fired power stations in operation to stabilise the system but had turned down those plants too in order to save money. Sara Aagesen, Spain's energy minister, said power plants 'should have controlled voltage and, moreover, many of them were economically remunerated to do so. They did not absorb all the reactive power that was expected.' Redeia rejected any blame and said it was the fault of power plants. Concha Sanchez, operations chief, told a news briefing: 'Had conventional power plants done their job in controlling the voltage there would have been no blackout.' Beatriz Corredor, the company's chairman, said Redeia will release its own full report on the causes of the outage.
