At the beginning of 2022, Badalona submitted a candidacy to be the headquarters of the Energy Node of the Blockchain Center of Catalonia (CBCat), which aims to develop blockchain technology in the energy transition, so necessary in the context of the current climate emergency. In October 2022, the Energy Node was established in Badalona. During these months the CBCat began its activity.
On January 19, 2023, a meeting was held between CBCat and the municipal groups, where the project, which was open to comments and suggestions from the political groups, could be explained. The agreement with the CBCat contemplated the investment of 150,000 euros - in the first year - by the Badalona City Council to finance actions in the city related to the energy transition and the adoption of blockchain technology by the city's companies.
Faced with the accusations of the Republicans, the PP government assures that "when we arrived at the municipal government we were able to verify that there is no agreement or agreement signed for the Blockchain Center of Catalonia in Badalona" between the City Council and the entity, beyond a request of a nominative subsidy of 150,000 euros from the Chamber of Commerce for the development of an energy node.
These resources, according to ERC, were contemplated in the 2022 budget. However, the allocation of the budget item to the CBCat required approval by the Plenary Session, which was blocked in March 2023 by the Popular Party due to the proximity of the electoral contest. Pressure from CBCat and Badalona business community allowed its approval the following month with insufficient margin to formalize the agreement between CBCat and the City Council.
Alex Montornès, president of the Municipal Group of Esquerra Republicana, considers worrying “the lack of interest that the Popular Party has in working on those projects that can transform the city's economic model. We have seen it with the CACI and we see it with the Blockchain Center. The Energy Node is a country-level tool in favor of the energy transition and the democratization of energy. But, in addition, it is a tool to make companies in our city more competitive.”
For the PP, however, like any other subsidy granted by the City Council, it must be justified with the actions carried out in the year in which it is granted. But when it comes to presenting the documentation, the project they present does not comply with the requirements and technical purposes set by the City Council, such as local impact, temporality or the target audience, among others. From the municipal technical services, they continue from the government, it was requested, "at the beginning of our government, through a request, the correction, on up to two occasions, of the documentation presented, without positive result." This request is a clear example that our Government wanted the situation to be corrected, in no case to create obstacles as they say.
Finally, from the municipal technical services, the government adds that they have reported the non-adequacy of the project to the object and purposes established in the strategic subsidy plan. Therefore, it does not even begin the process to grant this subsidy because what the City Council cannot do is grant a subsidy of 150,000 euros if the technical and legal requirements are not met.
This, according to the ERC note, makes an obvious application of this tool is to transfer monetary value (cryptocurrencies). But it can also be used to map food processing (from when a pig is alive to when it becomes a whip), move towards electronic voting in parliamentary elections, protect medical records or develop energy communities.
