Spain’s government said that an energy saving plan approved last week will not be postponed and is mandatory, despite calls by the opposition and regional chiefs for it to be changed or scrapped over fears it could hurt tourism.
The plan, which will take full effect tomorrow and requires air conditioning to be turned down in hotels, restaurants and stores and restrictions on lighting, will save between 4% and 5% of Spain’s energy use, Energy Minister Teresa Ribera told a news conference on Monday.
Last month, EU countries agreed to voluntarily reduce gas use by 15% to prepare for a shut-off of Russian supply. Countries like Spain that argue they have a limited ability to export gas to EU neighbours can request a lower target of around 7%.
Ribera said that while regions could propose “new and concrete” proposals for tweaks to the plan before August 31, there was no going back.
“The royal decree is already in force. We cannot postpone it,” she said after a virtual meeting with energy ministers for the 17 regions.
Regions held by the right-wing opposition People’s Party (PP), such as Madrid, say the plan was too heavy a burden on their economies. In highly-decentralized Spain, regional authorities will be responsible for its enforcement, raising the risk they could derail it.
The PP on Monday formally asked the government to withdraw the royal decree approved last week.
“(This decree) has been prepared without measuring the economic impact on trade, tourism or culture,” Miguel Tellado, a spokesman for the PP, said on Monday.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez appealed to the PP to show “unity, responsibility and solidarity” by backing the plan.
“I know I’m preaching in the desert though, as we have a negationist opposition,” he told reporters at a news conference.
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It will be interesting how this all plays outs given most restaurants/bars have their AC on a temps well below 25ºC let alone the original 27ºC. The warmest I have come across is 23ºC. The last one I was in gets really full each day in summer and they had theirs set at 19ºC to combat the number of bodies that are heating the place up. Even set at those temps the AC doesn't exactly keep up.