Alex Trelinski
NEW rules will come into force on August 8 to save energy at public venues across Spain.
The Council of Ministers approved the first tranche of measures on Monday to cut Spain’s gas consumption by 7% as part of a European Union agreement to limit dependency on gas from Russia.
Spain’s reductions will be lower than the EU-wide figure of 15% and will be maintained until at least November 1 2023.
Ecological Transition Minister, Teresa Ribera, said: “This is an unprecedented effort not seen since after end of the Second World War.”
Offices, shops, cinemas, theatres, and hospitality venues will no longer be allowed to set their cooling systems below 27 degrees in summer nor raise heating above 19 degrees in the winter.
The measure also applies to airports and railway stations.
Shops will also be obliged to keep doors closed and heating systems must be checked more often to increase efficiency under the new measures,
The package also includes shops having to switch off window lights after 10pm.
Street lighting will not be affected.
The government is demanding air-conditioned premises to have a door closing system in place before September 30 and for premises to review boilers and thermal installations before December 1.
It’s also going back to the days of the Covid pandemic by encouraging more home working to ‘save on travel and heating buildings’.
Further measures will be announced in September.
It will be down to Spain’s 17 regions to make sure that rules are being followed.
Madrid region president, Isabel Diaz Ayuso, said on social media that ‘Madrid does not turn off. This generates insecurity and scares tourism and consumption.’
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