El Hierro, the most sustainable island in Spain (and in the world).
The iron is on its way to becoming the first Spanish island (and in the world) to be 100% sustainable . Obviously this is not the result of chance, but of a work of more than a decade by the institutions, companies and the people of El Hierro.
It could be said that El Hierro and its inhabitants have a great connection with their island and they are aware that they must take care of the great natural heritage they possess.
It all started before she was named UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2000 . Already in 1997 it established a ** Sustainability Plan ** that placed it well ahead of European and global initiatives with energy self-sufficiency , a tourism model respectful of the territory, the ecological agriculture and policies of zero waste since 2012.
In 2006 a complete review of the plan was carried out which concluded that in ten years, 82% of the objectives had been met . This was partly thanks to the construction of its jewel, the Gorona del Viento hydro-wind power plant, inaugurated on June 27, 2014. The Eolico Park , which supplies nearly 60% of the island's needs, is owned by the Cabildo of El Hierro, Endesa, the ITC and the Government of the Canary Islands.
It cost 82 million euros and was built in the empty crater of a volcano , taking into account that El Hierro is, of the Canary Islands, the one with the most volcanoes with 500 open-air craters. Goron of the Wind works with wind turbines when there is wind , and when not, it supplies the population with another clean energy, water.
In 2017, thanks to Gorona del Viento, the island was able to dispense with 6,017 tons of diesel , which are equivalent to 40,000 barrels of oil. And, since 2015, greenhouse gas emissions have been reduced by 40,000 tons.
In fact, work is already under way to expand the plant to allow complete energy self-sufficiency and sustainability, we assume that thanks to the budgets approved by the Cabildo de El Hierro this year, the largest in its history with 45.6 million.
And not only in energy does it want to be sustainable and self-sufficient, it also wants to be in agriculture, livestock, fishing, etc. for now, It is the island with the largest area qualified for organic production , with 53 registered operators and 4,232 hectares (including Dehesa pastures) .
And as for plastics, they carry out an educational program called Open Fotosub with which they give workshops to children and adolescents on environmental education.
The iron.
A HISTORICAL MILESTONE
Last summer, between July 13 and August 7, El Hierro, with 268 km2 and 10,968 inhabitants , broke a record in energy terms again: for 24 days in a row, its entire population was supplied only with renewable energy.
It is also a world record for island territories whose energy supply is usually based on fossil fuels. This means that Thanks to its energy model, it was possible to save 7,000 tons of fuel and thus avoid the emission of 23,000 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.
The ambitions of this island have not stopped here. In a period of four to eight years, it wants to be an island that is energetically clean and 100% autonomous. , as stated by its president, Alpidio Armas.
“The sustainable will of El Hierro, which emanates directly from its inhabitants, cannot be understood without knowing the history of the Canary Islands. For a long time the inhabitants have been forced to emigrate, many of them to Latin America, and there has been a dispersion of the population that has currently led to a attachment to territory , in a unanimous will to preserve the natural heritage”, explains Gonzalo Piernavieja, director of the Technological Research and Development division of the Technological Institute of the Canary Islands (ITC), an institution that has been working for more than 20 years on technological solutions to promote renewable energies. renewables in the Canary Islands.
A RESPONSIBLE TOURISM
“The Canary Islands is a territory with 2.2 million inhabitants that welcomes around 15 million tourists every year, How is it possible that with such figures it can be sustainable? Very easy. The Canary Islands receive tourists in stages throughout the year, so there are no avalanches in summer as occurs in the Balearic Islands or other archipelagos”, says Gonzalo Piernavieja, director of the ITC.
"This means that the largest islands are prepared to receive some 300,000 tourists each month , which makes it possible to create sustainability policies that would be impossible if this figure were concentrated in just a few weeks each year", they point out from the Tourist Office in a statement.
Particularly, El Hierro, since the 1980s, has always opted for a tourism alien to the masses with bio-lodges, eco establishments, agrotourism, camps, etc. In terms of diving, they establish controlled dives , for example, in the Mar de las Calmas Marine Reserve , highly protected, there are 12 dive sites, marked with buoys, and in each of them there can be only 12 divers at the same time.
The Sustainable Mobility Plan has also helped in this regard with the reduction of taxi licenses Y the promotion of public transport and shared taxis to reach the main tourist centers.
But there is still more, because soon also they want to promote the use of electric microbuses in certain areas of the island and renew the car fleet and replace them with electric vehicles that are supplied through the hydro-wind power plant.
Currently, the Cabildo is also working on a project to obtain biodiesel from vegetable oils used and collected on the island itself.
El Hierro has been working for more than 20 years to be self-sufficient.