The timetable for the closure of the Almaraz nuclear power plant once again puts pressure on the governing coalition, this time due to a PP initiative in the Senate that could change it. Last week, the Upper House approved a popular amendment to the law on sustainable mobility – definitively voted on Thursday in Congress and on which the disbursement of 10 billion euros from Brussels depends – which postpones the date of definitive cessation of activity of the Almaraz (Cáceres), Ascó I (Tarragona) and Cofrentes (Valencia) plants. Even if the change has nothing to do with what regulates the law, the People’s Party used their absolute majority to introduce this change into a fundamental law for the Executive, a way of legislating that is increasingly common among the parties.
This Monday Podemos and Alianza Verde asked the Congressional Commission to “stop” the measure, but parliamentary and government sources believe that a priori There’s no room to do that because it doesn’t affect budgets, they say. With Sumar reluctant to any delay on what was agreed and a PSOE that is open to listening to energy companies, as the president of the government, Pedro Sánchez, recognized on Sunday in an interview with EL PAÍS, the coalition parties are preparing to vote in plenary on the amendment, which could move forward if Junts is in favor.
“As far as we know, the amendments of a sovereign chamber like the Senate cannot be blocked”, said at a press conference on Monday the general coordinator of the Sumar Movement, Lara Hernández, who wanted to transfer the pressure on Carles Puigdemont’s party by ensuring that “it will be the political forces, if nothing changes”, who will act as spokespersons for the plenary session. Although the Council had vetoed Upper House amendments on previous occasions, the government had already taken a stand against it, as in the case of the reduction of VAT to 2% on basic foods in the Food Waste Act.
The PSOE’s position on this issue is also unclear. Although the party rejected the amendment in the Senate, Sánchez assured on Sunday that the government is “willing to study the alternative” of the owners of the power plants as long as they “guarantee” the security of the territories and energy supply, and do not ask the Spaniards to pay more taxes to “earn money”. This Monday, the socialist candidate for the presidency of the Regional Government of Extremadura, Miguel Ángel Gallardo, was “sure” that the Central Executive will “extend” the useful life of Almaraz and declared that there is a “commitment” in this sense.
“We have the feeling that the government has decided to grant the extension,” criticized the federal coordinator of Alianza Verde, Juantxo López de Uralde, on Monday morning.
The Sustainable Mobility Act is one of the laws that was left out of the hiatus detailed in a press conference last week by Junts, because the rule had been agreed upon earlier and had already received congressional approval. As expected, it will take place on Thursday, but it remains to be seen what the independentists’ position will be on this matter. The party has for the moment refused to comment on the issue, but the government parties fear that they will support the amendment since it also concerns the Tarragona plant.
The legal reform presented to the Senate aims to delay the date for both Almaraz, Ascó I and Cofrentes. The owners of the Cáceres plant (Iberdrola, Endesa and Naturgy) have just asked the Government to extend the useful life of the plant until June 2030, thus extending the current disconnection dates: the first reactor in 2027 and the second in 2028.
