The wind energy sector in Las Palmas, traditionally diplomatic, has broke ranks to directly point fingers at Pedro Sánchez’s Executive. During the ‘Pulse on Offshore Wind’ day, the Maritime Cluster of the Canary Islands (CMC), led by Femepa (the third vice president is the president of ARN, Luisa Ramos, and an employee of Lavinia) and within the orbit of Fedeport, along with the Business Association of Wind Energy (AEE), launched a veiled yet devastating attack this Tuesday against the paralysis of the PSOE in the Ministry of Ecological Transition.
Interest groups denounce that ‘inaction has a cost’ and that the central government is deliberately punishing the Islands by not publishing the necessary ministerial order for the auction. In the Port of Las Palmas, the discontent is palpable: they accuse the central Executive of living in an ‘unacceptable hibernation’ and of having ‘turned off the neurons’ in the face of an opportunity that could inject 14.239 billion euros into the regional GDP, 950 million euros annually when operational.
The frustration of the maritime lobby affiliated with Femepa is not unfounded; it is based on a comparative data analysis that highlights the shortcomings in state management. While Madrid keeps Spain at 0 MW installed, the United Kingdom has just awarded 8.4 GW this month after reacting in record time to the failures in its previous auctions. France and Norway are already operating with floating technology, which could create up to 3,276 stable jobs in the Canary Islands and save 116 million euros annually for the electrical system. The sector warns that the ‘regulatory blackout’ is scaring investors away to Morocco or Portugal, making the 298 million euros required to adapt the port an investment that, if the PSOE does not accelerate, will come too late.
The defense of the central Executive, perceived in Las Palmas as an excuse for inaction, is that Madrid is completely subordinated to the times of Brussels. The socialist government maintains that the design of the auction must be protected under the new directives of the European Commission to avoid legal challenges, especially regarding the ‘renewable acceleration zones’. However, for the Canary wind lobby, this dependence on Brussels is merely a smokescreen that conceals a lack of political will to prioritize the Archipelago. While other European countries interpret European rules to gain competitiveness, Madrid seems to use them as a brake to keep the future industrial development of the Port of La Luz blocked.
