Salvador Illa defends renewable energy and announces a new building to coordinate emergencies such as the blackout.

BarcelonaThe government has taken note of what went wrong on the day of the massive blackout and is already rolling up its sleeves to remedy it. At least that's what the president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, argued this Tuesday in an appearance before the Catalan Parliament to review the outage. The president appeared in the Catalan parliament with a handful of announcements under his belt: a new, comprehensive building for the 112 emergency response center to coordinate emergency response, a plan to ensure essential services have 48 hours of autonomy if they lose power, and measures to strengthen the public communications network for security and emergency services. However, the appearance eventually turned to an energy debate, regarding the deployment of renewable energy and the maintenance of nuclear power plants, as part of the opposition is calling for their lifespans to be extended in the wake of the massive blackout.

Before arriving, however, Illa wanted to focus on explaining the improvements his government wants to implement to improve the management of emergencies such as the energy incident a week ago. As explained, the Ministry of the Interior will begin activating the new Cecat 112 building announced by Isla, designed to manage emergencies across the country (and especially in the metropolitan area), integrating everything from the Fire Department, Rural Agents, SEM, and the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan Police), to the Agency. The integration of rooms with operators such as the Cercanías (Commuter Rail), the Catalan Water Agency, and energy operators will be studied.

Regarding the extension of RESCAT, the Government wants it to reach the members of the Executive Council—to prevent them from being cut off—and the presidents of the parliamentary groups so they can maintain contact in case of emergency. Mayors already have it. Finally, the Government is working to analyze how to guarantee energy autonomy for health centers, schools, police stations, and senior citizens' homes for at least 48 hours. The idea is to ensure they have an "automatic backup." The cutoff, for example, left the only CAP that provides 24-hour care in Pallars Sobirà blind, where the city councils are already considering filing a "formal lawsuit" against the Health Department.

"Subordination" in the State

Despite Isla's explanations, the opposition has agreed in pointing out deficiencies in communication on the day of the blackout, and Junts, ERC, and the CUP have pointed out the "subordination" of the Catalan socialists in the Spanish government. According to the leader of Junts in the Parliament, Albert Batet, the citizens were not "accompanied" because the Government was "absent and disappeared" during the four hours that the Minister of the Interior, Núria Parlon, took to appear before the press. Isla appeared after eight in the evening, after the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez. Illa has defended that the executive appeared when they had "verified" information: "I am responsible," he said about who decided the government's communication policy that day.

The head of the executive also boasted of the "collaboration" between the Generalitat and the Spanish government on the day of the blackout, unlike what the eight autonomous communities that asked the State to assume control. Isla criticized them for shirking responsibility, something he believes demonstrates how committed they are to self-government. "We want self-government to exercise it, not to complain, and when there's a difficulty, to pass the problem on to another administration," he said.

The debate over the energy future

The opposition as a whole has demanded to know the cause of the blackout, which the Spanish government is still investigating. ERC has proposed creating a study commission in the Parliament, a proposal supported by the Socialists. In contrast, the CUP wants an inquiry commission. Pending the discovery of the causes of the outage, the Catalan president has called for "rigor and prudence" and to avoid hasty conclusions about what caused the power outage. It was a message aimed at containing the situation. Criticism of the deployment of renewable energy in the State and in Catalonia to the detriment of nuclear energy, as the PP, Vox, and Aliança Catalana (Catalan People's Party), as well as Foment del Treball, did during the debate. In fact, Illa warned that it would be a "serious and technically unfounded" error to blame renewable energy sources for the blackout, adding that the deployment of this type of energy in Catalonia is an essential condition for ensuring its competitiveness and reducing the country's dependence on third countries. However, he also made it clear that under no circumstances will the guarantee of supply be "jeopardized."

In fact, with the interventions of the groups, the debate shifted from the Catalan government's handling of the blackout to the energy future of Catalonia. ERC, Comuns, and the CUP (Coup d'Electron of Catalonia) have demanded that the Socialists take a firm stance against the energy lobby that seeks to take advantage of this crisis to attack renewable energy. ERC spokesperson Ester Capella fiercely defended these energies, while Comunes leader Jéssica Albiach urged Isla "not to give in" to the nuclear lobby. Along the same lines, CUP deputy Dani Cornellà warned that the lack of information about the causes of the blackout has encouraged "the right and the employers" to defend nuclear energy and TEM lines "as the best solution." Juntos has avoided entering into this debate: it has limited itself to urging "caution" when discussing it, although in Madrid They recorded several questions The day after the massive blackout, the government rethinks the nuclear plant closure schedule.

In response to questions from the left wing of the chamber, Illa took up the challenge and scolded those "inside and outside" Parliament who have set themselves up as "spokespeople" for the interests of the nuclear companies. "The Government does not accept tutelage from anyone, and if anyone thought so, they were wrong [...]. We will listen to everyone, but we will make decisions with a single guide: the general interest," he warned. He also recalled that there is already an agreed closure schedule for the plants and emphasized that, if they so wish, they can request an extension of their useful life. However, he also warned that the costs of managing the waste generated during this extension should not be borne by the public purse.