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Proposed Wind Farms - More threats in and around the MCP permit areas from 2021

 Researched by Carolina Smith de la Fuente, providing some more detail about future wind farm plans.

I have found a couple of worrying things:
- On the Sur de Cantabria Platform site I found the information on all the windfarms proposed for Cantabria (on October 2020) and the stage at which they are at.
Note the following:
• Plan submitted to the Industry Office of Cantabria: "7. Sierra de Mullir 36Mw (Voto, Ruesga, Solózano)"
• Plan submitted to the Ministry for Ecological Transition: "29. La Rasa 51 Mw (Arredondo, Ruesga, Solórzano, Entrambasaguas)"

If we look at the map at the beginning of the page (also above), what I can see is that the La Rasa windfarm will go along El Naso AND between Alisas and La Piluca (2 sections). The Mullir windfarm seems to be in a much earlier stage of the proposal, as it hasn't been plotted on the map, but we should keep an eye on it.
- On another page of the same website I found that Garma Blanca and La Rasa are both proposed by Green Capital Power and are both in different stages of being processed.
- On the Defensa de los Valles Pasiegos Twitter account I have found the following:
"The Ministry for Ecologial Transition is allowing Green Capital to process the Garma Blanca windfarm taking only into account the cumulative effect with the La Rasa windfarm, which is no more than a continuation of the first one". (The map seems to confirms what was on the previous map I mentioned: La Rasa would be on El Naso and between Alisas and La Piluca).
   If this is true, once they get the green light for Garma Blanca, they are likely to get the green light for La Rasa (I think), which will mean that Matienzo will be surrounded by windfarms, windfarms that will be directly above some of the largest underground systems of the valley.
    Leaving aside how harmful it will be for wildlife and humans (noises are known to be harmful for humans and, for example, bats, and the possible damage to entrances, is it crazy to think that the digging required to instal such beasts will cause vibrations that could lead to rockfall/collapses in the caves? Apparently these roads and tower foundations are very similar to the ones proposed for Garma.
   I'm not having any luck finding up to date detailed information about the La Rasa windfarm, as all the focus right now seems to be on Garma Blanca. Looking though the official documentation for the Garma Blanca project some sections mention La Rasa (such as in the annex "Estudio de Viabilidad Para Transporte de Máquinas G145 T90 hasta el Parque Eólico La Rasa y Garma Blanca (Cantabria)", and all the documentation from 2018 in file "ANEXO IV. RESPUESTAS A LAS CONSULTAS PREVIAS.pdf"–), but the "Estudio de impacto ambiental" suggests that La Rasa is no longer being considered. As a place of geological interest, Matienzo is also considered an "excluded zone". Why then does it appear on the list of windfarms proposed to the Ministry from October 2020? Illegal proposals have gone ahead, so it wouldn't surprise me.
    (By the way, this last document mentions Matienzo as a "place of geological interest" and mentions the Cubija "karst system" 1,2 km away, as it is "outside" the windfarm, the impact is non-existent. (How?? I ask, if we can see it from the valley and it will be connected to the station in Fuente Las Varas...) 
   After writing the above, I've been in touch with the Defensa de los Valles Pasiegos platform and it turns out that the person in charge of the allegations (or should it be plea? legal terms were never my forte) against Garma Blanca is the secretary of the Cantabrian Caving Federation, Jara Pascual. Like us, they can't understand why La Rasa was still being processed a few months ago if it is allegedly not being considered according to the "Impacto" study, so they are going to ask about it as part of their plea, as there is the fear that Garma Blanca could be a "Trojan horse" of sorts and that by getting Garma approved they could then have it easier to get La Rasa approved.
   She's told me that she is also in touch with Pistruellos and Proteus to add the possible damage to the underground heritage and aquifers in their plea, so I've emailed our list of possible sites threatened by Garma Blanca to Pistruellos and they have added them to their own list to send to Jara. I've asked Jara to keep me updated with anything she hears about the La Rasa windfarms, as we will have a lot to tell them!
Carolina 25/2/2021 and 26/2/2021