"Meteorologists confirm a new temperature record in Europe: the thermometer in Sicily reached 48.8 degrees." "2023 was the warmest year since records began." "New record for maximum temperature in Scotland in a month January: 19.9 degrees." "In the port of Navacerrada it was summer weather yesterday." "The unusual heat fills the beaches with bathers." These are just some of the information that has circulated on social networks at the beginning of the year. . Something happens.
But there are also those who question these realities and make good the famous meme of “Where is climate change? Let me see it!” Vox MEP Hermann Tertsch spoke yesterday about “people who live off the climate change narrative.” But the complaints do not only come from the extreme right. Felipe González has just asked himself “what we will do with the photovoltaic waste” and has stated that the “only sun tax that is not paid” is when “you lie down on your belly and the sun shines on you.”
The fact is that climate change has been a real threat that affects the population for several years. In Catalonia, for example, an emergency will be declared tomorrow in 200 municipalities, including Barcelona. Tourism, the main engine of the Spanish economy, is also beginning to be affected. This winter the snow is scarce. CaixaBank Research, for its part, has found that the warmest areas of Spain had slower spending growth in recent years.
The Government that declared the climate emergency is aware of the situation, but a few days ago it received criticism for the expansion of Barajas. Can we fight against polluting emissions by making airports bigger? The debate is open, but what is clear is that if Madrid or El Prat do not grow, others will take the lead in receiving intercontinental flights. Minister Puente explained it in broader terms to Errejón: “Íñigo wants to travel to Buenos Aires or Hong Kong by train. “We are working on it, but at the moment it is a bit difficult.”
While all this is happening, in France farmers and ranchers are blocking Paris and causing obstacles for Spanish truck drivers at the border. In the field you also have to think. The ecological transition must take into account progressiveness and social vision. Vice President Ribera explained it: the key is to “prevent inequality from growing” and to adopt “measures that ensure opportunities and social protection.” The challenge is enormous.
