Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has announced "urgent measures" to save and use energy more efficiently. These measures will be decided on Monday at the weekly cabinet meeting, he said on Friday.
Sánchez did not give any details. However, he emphasized that these are "reasonable" measures that have been debated with many sectors of society for a long time. They would have a positive impact on citizens' finances and on the competitiveness of Spain's economy, and would also benefit Europe, he assured.
In the event of an energy emergency as a result of the Ukraine conflict, natural gas can be exported to other EU countries, the socialist politician explained. Spain has six LNG terminals, where imported LNG is converted into natural gas. His country has "30 percent of the total European regasification capacity," he emphasized.
Ties stay in the closet
In addition, he wants to present two proposals for reforming the electricity market to the European Commission in September: decoupling the price of electricity from the price of gas and setting an upper limit for the price of CO2 emissions. "We are convinced that these two measures will help bend the inflation curve" and "reduce dependence on the aggressor (Vladimir) Putin".
Sánchez appeared before the press on Thursday without a tie - which is unusual for him - and explained: "You see, I'm not wearing a tie. It means that we can all save energy." He called on all members of the government and all officials in the public sector to leave their ties in the closet in the summer. The private sector should do the same whenever possible.
The proposal is not new in Spain. As early as 2011, the then socialist Minister of Industry, Miguel Sebastián, proposed a tie boycott to save energy in order to reduce the consumption of air conditioning units. In the country, which was still more conservative at the time, his proposal had no chance.
