The Government maintains its energy saving plan despite the rejection of the PP, which demands its withdrawal

The Government maintains the energy saving decree, despite the rejection of the PP, which this Monday has requested the immediate withdrawal of the package of measures approved a week ago by the Council of Ministers and which enters into force this Wednesday. After meeting, together with the Minister of Industry and Commerce, Reyes Maroto, with the regional councilors of the branch and a representative of the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP), the third vice president and minister for the Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, has warned that the decree will not be withdrawn and that its application will not be delayed, as some communities, such as Catalonia, have requested. Asked if the critical autonomies had presented alternative proposals, Ribera assured that they had not done so during the videoconference meeting this morning, but that they have promised to send them in writing to the Ministry before the 31st of this month, so they would be time to debate them and include them in the contingency plan that the Government has to present in September.

The minister appeared a few minutes after Miguel Tellado, Deputy Secretary for Territorial Organization of the PP, requested at a press conference “the immediate withdrawal” of the savings measures decree and called for a meeting between the President of the Government and the regional government to address the matter “this very week”. “It would be very unfortunate if Pedro Sánchez had to be dragged to a conference of presidents. If he has any political dignity left, he should call off his vacation and call her. If ten autonomous communities have to force him to do so, it is because Spain has ceased to have a legitimized president to head the Government”, she added. From Lanzarote, Sánchez has asked the PP for “unity and responsibility” “to comply with the Brussels agreements and with the commitment to solidarity with the rest of the European countries.”

The Government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso has led the rejection of the measures and will take them to the Constitutional Court “due to invasion of powers.” Asked if that will be the way in all the communities governed by the PP, Tellado has said that each autonomy is free to decide what to do, but has asked the Government not to “force” them to “judicialize” the conflict. Sources from the Madrid Executive insist that turning off the shop windows at 10:00 p.m., as stated in the decree, “creates a key sense of insecurity for tourism.” The PP leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, had gone even further in his savings proposals by suggesting saving on “night lighting” in cities. In addition to turning off shop windows, the decree requires the use of air conditioning to be limited to 27 degrees in summer and heating to 19 degrees in winter in shops, department stores, cinemas and public buildings, with exceptions for premises that have the need to “maintain special environmental conditions”.

Catalonia and the Basque Country, governed by PNV and ERC (parliamentary allies of Sánchez), demanded during the telematic meeting flexibility in the application of temperature limits, “clarity” in the articles, more time to apply it and money to be able to comply with all the measures. Catalonia has even proposed a postponement in the entry into force. “It has been a waste of time”, they have stated from the Government at the end of the videoconference, reports Angels Pinol. The Basque Country, for its part, maintains criticism “of the ways” in which the decree has been drawn up, which it considers to be more “gimmicky than effective”. The Basque Minister for Sustainability, Arantxa Tapia, asks the Government to be “sensitive” to the sectors most affected by the pandemic when applying the measures.

For Ribera, a postponement would mean “a new decree” and that, he assured, “is not going to happen.” An autonomous president of the PP consulted by EL PAÍS assures that they only have the capacity to monitor compliance with the decree and impose sanctions “those administrations that have their own security forces and not all the municipalities.”

Despite the uproar, no community threatened to break the rules during the meeting, according to Teresa Ribera. Asked what the Executive could do if the autonomies – which must ensure that the new regulations are complied with and impose sanctions if this is not the case – refuse to abide by the measures, the minister replied: “The Government is respectful of the Constitution and with the State of the autonomies and has done what is in its power. It is up to the autonomous communities how it is applied and monitored. We can’t replace their skills.” Without citing the PP, Ribera has referred to his old criticism of the Generalitat of Catalonia for breaking the law: “For many years, an autonomous government has been criticized for not complying with the Constitution with a reiterated message of how important it is to respect the rules, so I hope this will channel into how you can be more effective and come up with additional ideas.”

The Government has insisted that it will not tolerate “any rejection of the decree”, as María Jesús Montero, Minister of Finance, stated this morning in Algeciras. “We ask Feijóo that, even if it costs him, he imposes his voice in the game”, she added. Montero has insisted that the Executive will enforce the law. “We are not going to allow any community to disobey; that path of insubordination ends badly, as has been seen on other occasions”, she said during the signing of agreements with the Commonwealth of Municipalities of Campo de Gibraltar.