Redaccion
Accuses the PP of «putting the natural and mining resources into the hands of friendly companies» at bargain prices
The national spokesperson of the BNG, Ana Pontón, has proposed declaring the mining resources and all natural resources in Galicia as strategic and has accused the Xunta government of «opening the door to looting in mining as well.»
During a press conference held this Monday, the leader of the Bloque highlighted the main points of the proposal of her «alternative government,» stating that it includes regulatory, planning, and management measures with a «clear horizon»: «Galicia must benefit from the mining wealth of Galicia.»
Pontón emphasized the nationalist party’s commitment to putting this wealth «at the service of the country,» «ensuring the closure of cycles and the preservation of productive sectors, water resources, territory, and biodiversity,» in contrast to the PP government that applies the same modus operandi in mining as it does with all natural resources in Galicia, «the philosophy of looting.»
In this regard, she accused the Rueda government of using these resources «to hand them over to large multinational companies or friends of the PP at bargain prices,» allowing them to «profit at the expense of the people of Galicia,» while the majority pays the environmental and social price of this model.
«The Rueda government repeats the old extractive design, the colonial looting of our resources, which is what it has been doing with our forest wealth or our energy wealth,» Pontón exemplified, advocating the need to «turn around everything that has been done so far» by a PP government that «is working in favor of the mining lobby and multinational companies in the sector.»
In this line, she mentioned that the Xunta approved a Sustainable Mining Agenda in 2023 «with absolute secrecy and without the knowledge or participation of Galician society» and later, in June 2024, began processing the Mining Rights Development Plan, which, she said, gives «free rein to put around 200 expired mining rights on the market to the highest bidder.»
In this sense, she criticized the measures presented by the Xunta with the «usual ‘greenwashing’ rhetoric, passing off what is nothing more than looting as sustainable and circular economy.»
Having said that, she referred to the links between the PP and the «friendly companies and major economic lobbies that benefit from Galician natural resources.» As an example, she mentioned that the current president of the Mining Chamber was a PP councilor in Santa Comba until «a few months ago» and held «management positions in sector companies such as Rafaella Ressources, a company that owned the San Fins and Varilongo mines.»
«I think we all know what happened with the San Fins mine,» she recalled, pointing out «how well the revolving doors work in favor of PP-friendly companies and against the interests of the people of Galicia.»
NATURAL NETWORK
During the press conference, Pontón also denounced how, while approving regulations that «accelerate the looting» of mining resources, the PP «paralyzes planning instruments for extractive activities and territory protection.»
«There we have the paralysis of the expansion of the Natural Network or the paralysis of the processing of the sectoral plan for extractive activities,» she exemplified, also being very critical of the modification of the composition of the Mining Council of Galicia through the budget accompanying law, in which the PP eliminated the representation of all environmental associations, labor organizations, and common land communities.
Pontón pointed out the «latest example» of this looting model, «the Doade mine,» promoted by the company Recursos Minerales de Galicia, belonging to the Aragonese group SAMCA. «While the Xunta says it is promoting projects that strengthen value chains and close productive cycles in Galicia, in reality, the battery factory that will use the Doade mineral will be located in Zaragoza, with an investment of over 4 billion,» she elaborated.
«For Galicia, the environmental and social cost, for other territories, multimillion-dollar investments and thousands of jobs, all with the collaboration and complicity of the PP,» she summarized.
In this context, Pontón outlined the main lines of action that the alternative government of the BNG is finalizing to organize, plan, and program mining development in Galicia, which, she said, first involves declaring the natural resources of Galicia as strategic to serve the country and its majority.
«The exploitation of these resources must be planned according to the country’s interests and ensuring coexistence with the activities specific to the territory, the closure of productive cycles, and symbiosis with other industrial sectors,» she explained.
The BNG also proposes to ensure the participation of the public sector, both the Galician Administration and local entities, as well as the communities where the various projects are located, to ensure that a percentage of those benefits return to the people of Galicia. «We believe that mining rights should be linked to the closure of productive cycles in Galicia.»
The Bloque also advocates for transparency and social participation in the exploitation of mining resources, and finally, it calls for mining development to be compatible with heritage protection – both natural and cultural – the protection of water resources, and the prevalence of economic activities in strategic sectors for rural areas and the country as a whole.
«We must prioritize agricultural and livestock activities, the fishing and shellfish sector, and the development of a multifunctional forest over the interests of the mining lobby,» she asserted.
