On May 20, Saturday, in Gasteiz, we will mobilize in defense of the Earth to reject and demand that the macropojections that attack the territory, Basque Country live! under the slogan.

We are suffering the brutal attack of new infrastructures that are going to industrialise the natural spaces and the rural environment: wind power plants and photovoltaic macropolyloges, railways and high-speed infrastructures, high-voltage lines, new mining projects, incinerators, industrial greenhouses and macroviveros... They all appear on the map of the Basque Country, projects that are already underway or will be carried out soon.

It is very worrying to see large investors returning to our territory to continue to deteriorate the natural environment and to continue to steal the scarce natural resources that have so far been preserved.

Likewise, the destruction and speculative construction that are spreading along the coast and tourist areas are causing permanent loss of land under cement.

These projects cover natural spaces and farmland, leading to the disappearance of ecosystems that underpin our territory and sustain life.

As if this were not enough, governments prioritize the economic interests of large companies, and parliaments adopt laws to facilitate the imposition of these mega-projects, as well as the latest Spanish laws that drastically reduce public participation and environmental impact studies, such as the Tapia Law, which prevents municipalities, councils and neighbors of these territories to make decisions and legislation in Navarre like this.

In recent times, moreover, with the excuse of the energy crisis and climate change, it is intended to sew mountain areas and large rural areas with wind and photovoltaic macro-projects, causing an irreversible loss of biodiversity and serious damage to areas of high natural and landscape value, as well as a significant deterioration of agricultural and livestock land essential for guaranteeing food.

With regard to the energy issue, the energy transition model that is being imposed on the basis of the industrial implementation of renewable energies and mega-projects is absolutely unacceptable, as it is an escape route that, in addition to adhering to the interests of big energy companies, aims to maintain the growth of capitalism and current unsustainable life.

We must therefore condemn the fact that the "Renewable Energy Sector Plan", approved by the Basque Government these days, makes the territory of the CAPV a great "gambling hall" to the taste of energy companies and investors, encouraging the establishment of 110 large-scale wind and photovoltaic plants.

In fact, the World Bank will meet at the BEC of Barakaldo from 23 to 25 May to continue to drive new businesses that promote the economic elites using the excuse of the climate emergency. Its sole objective is to continue plundering the planet and to obtain public funds of billions of euros from the European Next Generation programme. Terms such as "energy transition" and "decarbonisation" lose their meaning when they are reused by those that have caused the current eco-social crisis. Making the entire territory available to transnational corporations to develop macro-projects impoverishes us, makes us more vulnerable and dependent.

It is therefore necessary that all citizens and groups meet in defence of the land and organise the necessary actions and mobilisations. The demonstration on Saturday will be the result of the collaboration between different groups and people who are moving to defend the territory in many places in the Basque Country.

Conservation and protection of natural areas and agricultural land is essential to ensure life. We need policies that make decisions on people and not based on the interests of capital, policies that protect farmland and small farms, that develop a public and social transport system, that promote a decentralised and local model of renewable energy. We need, in the end, a model that does not harm the natural heritage and that makes it possible to improve the common good.

The mountains of Euskal Herria, the natural spaces, the rural and coastal areas are not spaces for capital conquest! On Saturday at 18:00 we will meet in Plaza San Antón de Vitoria.

Mikel Alvarez Forcada