Seven of the richest municipalities in Extremadura are concentrated around the Almaraz nuclear power plant (Cáceres). Sus dos reactors, from the start of the eight years and planned for 2027 and 2028, has become another divisive element of tense national politics while the 40,000 inhabitants of Campo Arañuelo endure the uncertainty of knowing that they are the main source of income in the region.
“If the cierran, the region will become a desert. Only the retirees will fall. And it will be over”, declares Fernando Muñoz, 40 years old and central entrepreneur, while he collects money in a cajero in the España de Almaraz square (1,760 inhabitants). “It would be a loss for all the surrounding villages, it would involve a lot of direct and indirect work, not to mention central charging times,” explains Cristina Jiménez, a 36-year-old teacher. Almaraz leads the average net income in Extremadura, with 16,641 euros per person, according to the latest available data from the INE, from 2023. It is still very close to Romangordo (240 inhabitants), with 16,620 euros and tops the podium of Belvís de Monroy (15,406 euros average income and 740 inhabitants), both located in the same area. The average income in Extremadura was 12,326 euros in 2023 and in Spain 15,036 euros.
The other municipalities in the area that are in this income range are medium-sized, with around a hundred inhabitants each, Campillo de Deleitosa, Higuera de Albalat and Valdecañas de Tajo (15,348 euros) and Casas de Miravete (14,567 euros). To give you an idea, the average net income of the city of Cáceres is 15,017 euros, compared to Badajoz (13,957 euros), Plasencia (13,394 euros) and Mérida (13,297 euros). “It is obvious that these revenues are not real because they depend on the plant, on the productive fabric of the area. We must reorient it and look for industrial alternatives so as not to depend on the nuclear power plant, because later in the future the plant will close its doors at the end of its useful life,” observes Juan José Maldonado, professor at the Faculty of Commerce, Finance and Tourism of the University of Extremadura. The center has 305 employees and more than 400 employees in collaborating companies. The additional periods give additional work to more than a thousand people, according to its report for the first half of this year.
PP and Vox defend the extension of the useful life of Almaraz, requested until 2030 by the two companies Iberdrola, Endesa and Naturgy. The leader of the Spanish ultrarecha, Santiago Abascal, is in the municipality – the rest cannot be found – where he accuses the regional president and popular candidate, María Guardiola, of sharing with the PSOE the “policies of green fanaticism that are ruining the countryside”. Guardiola promised a gradual reduction in the cost of the nuclear power plant, which would cost 45 million euros in 2029 compared to 80 million currently. The government, which has maintained an ambiguous position, has been open in recent months to granting an extension, but without tax concessions. The Executive continues to wait for the Nuclear Security Council to decide on the security conditions which imply the revision of the timetable.
“Security is disappearing, that’s all. The problem is that there is no alternative to the central and it will be the death of this entire area. We saw what happened with the mining areas and the transition, nothing. Certainly!” declares Juan Antonio Díaz, 57 years old and socialist mayor of Almaraz. Of the 10.6 million euros in the municipal budget, 4.5 million comes at the central level from the tax on real estate with particular characteristics and the tax on economic activities, according to data from the Diputación de Cáceres. The municipal staff is made up of 130 employees (100 more in summer) and there is a health center, a day center, a residence for the elderly, a home help service, a security guard, a library… The metal and ceramic monument inaugurated in 2023, which reproduces the scale at the central level, summarizes the gratitude which is professed “for having contributed to the growth of the municipality and to the improvement of the quality of life of our neighbors”, can we read on a plaque. “We know that the central is not infinite, but we do not deserve promises, the alternative must be before the cierre,” says Díaz, while he proudly teaches the expansion of a faraónico slaughterhouse, a way of diversifying the region’s economy as much as possible. However, a great hope for the future of the nuclear power plant represents the battery gigafactory lithium battery for electric coaches planned for Navalmoral de la Mata (17,000 inhabitants), 20 kilometers away. The PSOE candidate, Miguel Ángel Gallardo, spoke along these lines.
The project of the Chinese multinational Envision, which is expected to generate 3,000 direct and 12,000 indirect jobs with a greater investment of 2,500 million euros, was the largest contribution of the regional central government and the penultimate extreme president, the late Guillermo Fernández Vara. The aim of both administrations was to make it the most important industry in Extremadura by taking advantage of the supply of cheap renewable energy. “Around the nuclear power plant there is a series of solar power plants because in its surroundings there is a whole energy distribution network that has been created. Therefore, companies that need energy can be installed there. In addition, it is an area very close to Madrid and very well communicated, next to the A-5. Geography influences and will always be an area better positioned than the majority of Extremadura”, señala José María Corrales, professor of the Department of Experimental Sciences and Mathematics from the University of Extremadura and doctor in geography and regional planning.
The time came that Envision revised the original project, moving from three battery production lines to two. The consequence is that the environmental impact statement granted in 2023 is not valid, which took time to plan for the start of production in 2027. The PSOE holds the PP responsible for the delay and criticizes Guardiola for not supporting the project with the same enthusiasm as Fernández Vara.
Meanwhile, time passes as the agitation camps in search of Campo Arañuelo. Iñaki Campo, 36 years old, mayor of Saucedilla (970 inhabitants and average income of 11,155 euros) of the Levanta Extremadura party, emphasizes that 5 of the 6.8 million of his presumptions come from the central: “The inhabitants of the region must fear without a future”. Saucedilla turns on an atomic power plant on his shield.
“We spent 40 years in the central office and we never spent anything,” says Romangordo Antonio Pérez, retired 82 years ago, upon receiving the acceptance. The pueblo is an open-air museum with walls and doors painted with debris that reclaims the roots and day-to-day of rural life. Located within the Monfragüe Biosphere Reserve and entrance to the Villuercas Ibores Jara Geopark, Romangordo has a school, medical center, residence for the elderly with 50 places, municipal swimming pool, library and gymnasium, among other services.
“What will happen with the reactors is worse! We are facing a massacre by filling the field with crystals that they don’t believe only in workplaces,” said Vicente Carro, a 57-year-old carpenter, referring to solar panels in a disparaging manner. Futurama. We are leaving a science fiction landscape”, added the bar of the La Campana de Albalat restaurant. “The companies owed to Almaraz put the defense of their interests in the hands of those who live here. The government is faced with a dilemma, in the end it provides no more remedy than extending it,” predicts Francisco López, 70 years old.
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