Environmental platforms, farming unions and residents from the Horta de Lleida farming area gathered outside the Solaria and Ignis solar installation in Alcarràs on Monday, 28 September, to demand that the Generalitat withdraw PLATER, Catalonia's territorial plan for wind and photovoltaic electricity generation.

The groups say the plan favours large developments on agricultural land. For farmers and residents in Alcarràs and other rural areas of western Catalonia, the dispute concerns whether land used for food production is converted for energy infrastructure, and how local communities are involved in those decisions.

Montserrat Coberó, spokesperson for the Xarxa Catalana per a una Transició Energètica Justa, said the Generalitat had repeatedly promised public participation since 2021 but had not delivered it.

“We were told it would be a participatory model, and there has been no participation.”

Groups seek withdrawal of PLATER and a project moratorium

The organisations said PLATER had received 12,400 objections, a figure they attributed to the Generalitat. They called for the plan to be withdrawn and redrafted through a process involving affected areas.

  • withdraw PLATER and produce a new plan with local participation;
  • revise the energy-demand forecasts used in PROENCAT, Catalonia's energy planning framework;
  • declare a moratorium on large renewable-energy projects until a plan agreed with affected areas is in place.

The coalition argued that Article 19 of Catalonia's Climate Change Law 16/2017 says renewable energy should, wherever possible, use land already altered by human activity, limiting unnecessary occupation of land.

Alcarràs plant at centre of land-use dispute

The demonstration was held near the Alcarràs solar plant, where Solaria and Ignis have brought 300 megawatts of photovoltaic capacity into service. On 29 August, President Salvador Illa said the Generalitat would continue with PLATER while seeking dialogue and agreement with municipalities.

According to court proceedings reported in August, eight adjoining solar parks promoted by Solaria and Ignis cover 656 hectares, have combined capacity of almost 400 megawatts and are planned to share an electricity evacuation line. The Court of First Instance No 1 in Lleida has opened preliminary proceedings into the authorisation process and ordered the Mossos d'Esquadra, Catalonia's regional police, to examine documentation. No person had been formally placed under investigation when that was reported.

Pilar Sanjuan, of Plataforma Lleida contra la MAT, said the development showed why panels should instead be placed on roofs, industrial buildings and degraded land. The groups said they may organise further protests if renewable-energy planning does not change.

Primary sources: u1a40jpb. Reported by lamanyana.cat, barna.news, CatalunyaPress.es, Segre, Departament d'Edicions del Parlament de Catalunya.