Demand for solar self-consumption shooting up

Aiding this demand are Balearic government incentives for homeowners and businesses. Financial aid schemes, the second of which will run until the end of 2023, have so far resulted in 4,500 applications. For the whole of 2020, there were 2,000, when the government allocated 3.5 million euros. This year, there are 5.6 million euros, while there are a further 12.7 million euros from European Next Generation funds.

A further incentive is coming from town halls, which are offering property tax (rates) discounts of up to 50% for homeowners who have requested self-consumption of electricity.

However, there are those who are urging caution. The Arca heritage association is concerned about "the destruction of the urban, rural and natural landscape, if solar panels in population centres and elsewhere are not considered in a balanced way".

Margalida Ramis, spokesperson for environmentalists GOB, says that it is essential that municipal regulations take account of self-consumption. For GOB, "it is not a question of visual or landscape impact". "Our arguments don't focus on this. It is a matter of energy, land and agricultural planning."