Aragon will contest the royal decree of the government of Pedro Sanchez which allows the installation of photovoltaic panels in tanks. The Executive of Jorge Azcon showed from the start its head-on opposition to this possibility. A position shared by all parties of the Cortes of Aragon who demonstrated unanimity on this subject, considering them “incompatible with the natural landscape”. This Tuesday, the Aragonese Executive took a further step by agreeing to file an appeal before the Supreme Courtafter the Government Council.
He Royal Decree 662/2024was approved on July 9, when fears that the reservoirs would ultimately become swimming pools for solar panels at the discretion of the Sánchez government resurfaced in Aragon.
Concretely, in Aragon, solar panels threaten 14 tanks and with it the place, its fauna, its flora and the economywhich emerged thanks to sustainable and adventure tourism in certain cities from which their inhabitants were able to benefit.
From the Department of Environment and Tourism of the Government of Aragon, they defended that “many dams in Aragon have become a tourist attraction and, therefore, are fundamental for the economic development of their territories. “This attraction is not compatible with the installation of solar panels, especially since there are other places where they can be installed.”
Jorge Azcón already announced in July the intention of the Aragonese Executive to create regulations that restrict the installation of photovoltaic panels in our reservoirs, a restriction that will be part of the next Aragon Energy Plan.
Aragon and photovoltaic panels
We have to go back to 2022, when the PP presented a Non-law proposal reject the installation of solar panels in the reservoirs of Aragon. At that time, the left-wing quadripartite led by the socialist Javier Lambán already supported this initiative.
In his time, the former Aragonese president Javier Lambán He was one of the few to oppose it within the National Water Council, “understanding that it could have a negative impact on the environment, on tourist and recreational activities, and on expectations in terms of irrigation”, they explain.
A fact which, two years later, once again brought together the unanimity of the entire parliamentary group, incorporating it as one of the points of the conclusions of the report of the Renewable Energy Research Commission.
This report clearly states that “the Cortes of Aragon urge the Government of Aragon do not allow installation of photovoltaic plants in Aragonese reservoirs until the Aragonese Energy Plan 2021-2030 and the Territorial Planning of Renewable Energy in our autonomous community are developed; since, both in the Aragonese Energy Plan 2021-2030 and in the Territorial Planning of Renewable Energy, the installation of photovoltaic plants in Aragonese reservoirs is not authorized.
Reasons of the Government of Aragon
The Government of Aragon based its challenge to the Royal Decree before the Supreme Court on several considerations, with the support of the General Directorate of Legal Services, considering that it is “legally reasonable” for two compelling reasons.
First of all, they emphasize “omission of the prior consultation procedure“. As interpreted by the Supreme Court in several resolutions, the prior consultation procedure governed by articles 133 LPAC and 26 LG cannot be omitted when developing regulatory standards of the General Administration of the State of a budgetary nature or organizational only when, in addition, there are serious reasons of public interest which justify it, no relevant obligations are imposed on the recipients and non-essential aspects of a matter are regulated. Analyzed the content of Royal Decree 662/2024, of July 9, “these circumstances are not met.”
The second argument is the violation of the principles of good regulation. In the opinion of the Legal Services, at least three principles were violated, such as the violation of pprinciples of necessity and legal certainty; the violation of principle of transparency.
In addition to the violation of article 18 of Law 21/2013 of December 9 of environmental assessmentgiven that article 3.3.d) of Royal Decree 662/2024 of July 9 grants the initiative to make the request to the organic body and not to the promoter. Just like the condition for competing autonomous powers.
