Sánchez asks for "time" to clear the blackout in the face of attacks from the PP and Vox: "756 million pieces of data will have to be examined."

MadridJust over two weeks ago, Pedro Sánchez only planned to make an appearance in the Congress of Deputies in which to defend and outline the €10.471 billion defense plan to reach 2% of GDP that same year. Last Monday's massive power outage, however, has upended the Spanish government's plans, and Wednesday's debate has turned into an ideological battle surrounding the power cut. Still without definitive conclusions on the causes, the PP and Vox have taken the opportunity to attack the Spanish Prime Minister, demand resignations, and take up the banner of nuclear power. Those in the Moncloa are aware that the unknowns surrounding the blackout provide the right with material to launch a "strong offensive" against them, but they remain committed to avoiding speculation and assure that they "will withstand the pressure." "We are not going to rush to superficial or even self-serving conclusions," warned the Spanish Prime Minister, who offered no new information and asked for "time" to find out why the entire Iberian Peninsula was left without power.

"We will have to thoroughly examine 756 million pieces of data," he argued. These are the values generated by the "4,200 plants in the system between 12:15 and 12:35 on April 28." The Socialist leader urged "acceptance of the complexity of the issue" so as not to "falsely close any debate" and guaranteed that the Spanish government will make public everything it discovers "with absolute transparency" and demand accountability. Sánchez criticized the attitude of the Spanish right, which he sees as having become a pro-nuclear "lobbyist." Along with Sumar, the minority partner, he attacked the attempt by the PP and Vox to fuel the "theory of chaos and apocalypse." In this regard, Sánchez refuted the opposition's "catastrophic vision." The Spanish president praised the "extraordinary" response of public services and civil society to the crisis, the "rapid restoration of supply" by technicians—which by six o'clock the following morning was 99%—and the "limited" economic impact—which he estimated at €415 million.

However, the lack of a clear explanation for the reasons behind the blackout has fueled the opposition. Alberto Núñez Feijóo criticized Sánchez for the fact that ten days later, the public still hasn't received "conclusive" answers and insinuated that the Spanish president is withholding information to "gain time" and avoid potential compensation claims. "We Spaniards have the right not to be taken for a ride," he said. Sánchez counterattacked by recalling the PP's handling of the DANA (National Plan for the Recovery of the Earth) and the catastrophe of the Prestige and criticizing its pacts with Vox. "We won't accept lessons from Ventorro's party," he said.

Defense of renewables

Sánchez used the debate to once again defend that Spain's energy future lies in renewables and called the narratives that cite these technologies as the cause of the massive blackout "massive manipulation." The Spanish government's rhetoric is based on praising the "strength of the system" despite the incident and disassociating renewable energy from the cause of the outage. However, this crisis has once again intensified the political struggle over nuclear energy, primarily led by the People's Party (PP), and the Spanish president stated that it is "irresponsible" for those who advocate extending the life of the plants to link this to the blackout: "[It is a solution] that responds to the interests of the companies that own the nuclear plants."

The socialist leader has passed the ball to these companies and has urged them to present an alternative calendar to that of closure they agreed to in 2019 with Enresa, the public company that manages nuclear waste. Sánchez has pledged to study it as long as the hypothetical extension of the plants' useful life guarantees the safety of the population, citizens do not have to bear the cost, and it is appropriate to guarantee the security of the electricity supply. "We are a long way from meeting these three requirements," he warned.

A warning from partners

The parties of the plurinational majority have also demanded greater clarity regarding the cause of the blackout. Regional spokesperson Míriam Nogueras criticized Sánchez's lack of self-criticism and his failure to provide "a single piece of new information." Podemos leader Ione Belarra also called this lack of information "shameful." The Podemos party pointed to "the electricity oligopoly" as the cause of the incident and advocated "recovering public control" of energy. "The greed of a private oligopoly that believes its unbridled profit trumps an essential good," said Republican spokesperson Gabriel Rufián, along similar lines. Both ERC and Sumar have advocated nationalizing Red Eléctrica (the state holds 20% of the share capital). of this strategic company in the spotlight since the blackout), but Sánchez has ruled out taking up this debate now, arguing that it is necessary to wait for the technicians' conclusions.

Military spending

However, the other major focus of Sánchez's appearance was on defense spending. In the face of criticism from the left, the Spanish prime minister once again guaranteed that he would not cut social spending and defended the goal of the defense increase "not to encourage any arms race." "Spain believes in diplomacy. We are not a warmongering country. We are a pacifist country, but not everyone out there shares the same vision, and we cannot be alien to it," he stated. This statement did not convince either Sánchez's parliamentary partners or the PP, which once again criticized the Cabinet for approving the Plan without the endorsement of Congress.

Regarding the controversy over arms contracts with Israel and the publication of the latest report from the Delàs Center, which increases the number of operations maintained by the State, Sánchez has refuted that it contains "inaccuracies" and has assured that the Spanish government maintains its commitment not to buy or sell weapons to that country.