Spanish renewable-energy development is waking from its siesta

Renewable-energy promoters are not typical movie villains. But “Alcarràs”, which won best film at Berlin’s festival last year, follows a peach farm in Catalonia forced to make way for a solar farm. In “As Bestas”, a thriller that won Spain’s own top prize, a French couple in Spain fight their neighbours’ desire for windmills. Spain sometimes seems to want renewables without having to build or see them.Spain has sun, rivers, wind and sparsely populated landscapes. But it has lagged behind its renewable potential. Much of that has to do with a solar-energy bust over a decade ago, when solar panels were expensive. The government offered developers subsidised returns, which became unaffordable during the financial crisis. The state reneged on its promises in 2013, and a gaggle of investors is suing for compensation. As a result, one of Europe’s sunniest places generated less than 8% of its electricity from solar panels in 2021, around one-third the amount it got from wind.