Iberdrola España recognizes four towns in Granada for their actions to combat depopulation in rural areas

• Cacín, Ventas de Huelma, Valderrubio and Chimeneas have been awarded by the platform 'Vente a vivir a un Pueblo' (Come live in a village) together with Iberdrola España. 

The town of Cacín in Granada hosted this morning the presentation of the "Pueblos con Futuro" (Towns with a Future) awards given by the platform to fight depopulation 'Vente a Vivir a un Pueblo' and Iberdrola España, in recognition of their efforts to revitalise rural areas. The award winners were the municipalities of Cacín, Ventas de Huelma, Valderrubio and Chimeneas. 

The awards were collected by the mayors of each municipality: Miguel Ortiz Arévalo, from Ventas de Huelma; Antonio García Ramos, from Valderrubio; Miguel Pérez Izquierdo, from Chimeneas; and Josefa Ramírez Ramírez, from Cacín, who acted as hostess. All of them have highlighted the great possibilities that exist in their villages and how they must seek the formula to be able to exploit them. The municipal representatives emphasised the need to continually reinvent themselves in order to be attractive and attract entrepreneurs to boost local activity.

Iberdrola España's delegate in Andalusia, Antonio Fernández, stressed that "the towns are key to the future of everyone, including our company, and deserve recognition and attention". "We at Iberdrola España hope to be able to continue contributing for many more years to the development of these municipalities through new projects related to renewable energies, which boost economic and social activity, employment and population growth", he added.

For his part, Iberdrola España's head of renewables in Andalusia, Luis Martín, said that renewables are spearheading growth and job creation in these towns in Granada, where the company is building the Caparacena photovoltaic plant and where it is developing various green projects.

The mayoress of Cacín pointed out the importance of halting depopulation in the area, while her counterpart in Chimeneas highlighted the role of renewables in attracting population, as people need plans for the future in the rural world. The mayors of Valderrubio and Ventas de Huelma agreed on the importance of improving roads and infrastructure to revitalise these municipalities.

At the round table following the awards ceremony, led and presented by the journalist and creator of the platform 'Vente a Vivir a un Pueblo', Ramón Pradera, the opinions of two entrepreneurs who left the city and decided to settle in a village were shared, such as Cristina Fernández, a veterinarian from Ventas de Huelma, who left the city to set up a horse shelter in the area and organise livestock fairs. For his part, the owner of the supermarket in Cacín, Manuel Pérez, is committed to raising awareness of the municipality in order to attract people.

The "Pueblos con Futuro" award involves the production of a video-fiche of each of the winning municipalities for 'Vente a Vivir a un Pueblo', the most modern and complete platform to encourage urbanites to settle in rural environments. Along with the video-fiche, the residents of these villages will be able to use other tools such as employment, housing and transfer agencies, free online training in new technologies and a Marketplace to give visibility to local services and products.

Commitment to Andalusia

Iberdrola España has more than 1,000 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy in Andalusia, where it has consolidated its position as the region's leading wind power developer. The company is present in seven of its eight provinces - Granada, 198 MW; Almeria, 50 MW; Cadiz, 168 MW; Seville, 54 MW; Huelva, 342 MW; Malaga, 153 MW; and Jaen, 26 MW. 

This community will continue to be one of the main scenarios for Iberdrola España's commitment, where it plans to install close to 3,000 new MW in the coming years with investments of €1.5 billion. In photovoltaic energy, the company currently has the 27 MW Cespedera plant (Cádiz), and is building the Poleo, Cornicabra and Espliego plants in the Seville municipality of Castilblanco de los Arroyos, with a total capacity of 144 MW. In addition, the 420 MW Ribera and 330 MW Caparacena plants have obtained a positive Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

In wind power, in 2022 the company commissioned the Martin de la Jara wind farm in Seville and El Puntal II, located in Sierra de las Yeguas in Malaga, which has one of the most powerful and largest wind turbines in Spain. 

Iberdrola España is identifying solutions in its renewable projects that promote the coexistence of solar photovoltaic generationEnlace externo, se abre en ventana nueva.  plants with activities related to agriculture, livestock or horticulture, so as to improve the efficiency and competitiveness of the facilities, the use of the land and the protection of biodiversity.

Iberdrola España generated an economic impact for its activity in Andalusia of €720 million in 2022, which is 6% more than in the same period of the previous year. The company, which has more than 150 employees in the region, is one of the driving forces behind the region's economy, making purchases from 205 Andalusian suppliers worth more than €200 million last year.

Iberdrola España está identificando en sus proyectos renovables soluciones que potencian la convivencia de plantas de generación solar fotovoltaica con actividades relacionadas con la agricultura, la ganadería o la horticultura, de manera que se mejore la eficiencia y competitividad de las instalaciones, el aprovechamiento del terreno y la defensa de la biodiversidad.