More than 70 Spanish and Portuguese groups advocate for the closure of the Almaraz nuclear power plant.

Plasencia, June 3 (EFE).- More than seventy Spanish and Portuguese groups have issued a joint manifesto demanding the definitive closure of the Almaraz nuclear power plant (Cáceres) within the planned timeframe of 2027 and 2028, and have rejected any attempt to extend its operation beyond that date.

The document, titled "For a nuclear-free Extremadura. No to the extension of Almaraz," denounces the "deterioration" of the facility, which has been in operation for over forty years, as well as the risks it poses to the population of Campo Arañuelo, the natural environment of the Tagus River, and neighboring Portugal, located just 100 kilometers from the plant.

The signatories consider that extending Almaraz's useful life "is an act of irresponsibility" on the part of the regional and national governments, whom they accuse of "acting at the behest" of the power companies that own the plant—Iberdrola, Endesa, and Naturgy—and of "profiting from the nuclear business without assuming its social or environmental costs."

The manifesto also called on the central government to urgently build a Deep Geological Storage Facility (DGS) to safely and permanently store radioactive waste, "a cost that should be borne by energy sector companies and not by the public," the signatory groups emphasized.

They have also demanded that the authorities stop "pushing a crusade" to keep the plant open and that they develop a "realistic and urgent plan to generate sustainable employment for the Almaraz region, in light of the plant's imminent closure."

The groups have also denounced that, while the future of nuclear power is being debated, "subsidies for self-consumption continue to go unreached by many individuals, and large-scale renewable energy projects, mostly promoted by the electricity companies themselves, have not resulted in tangible benefits for the people of Extremadura, who continue to endure high electricity prices and shortages in basic infrastructure such as electrified railways."

"Extremadura cannot continue to be an energy colony for large corporations," the manifesto states, which also demands the complete ecological restoration of the site once the plant's decommissioning process is complete.