The PP has taken advantage of its absolute majority in the Upper House to set its own conclusions in the investigation committee on the power outage of April 28 last year, in which it holds responsible the Government of Pedro Sánchez, the former Minister for Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, the third vice-president, Sara Aagesen, the president of Redeia, Beatriz Corredor, and the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC).
This is stated in the conclusions document presented by the PP spokesperson in the Senate, Alicia García, who this Wednesday appeared at a press conference to demand the "immediate resignation" of Vice President Sara Aagesen and the "immediate dismissal" of Beatriz Corredor.
The investigation commission on the blackout faces its closing session this Thursday after almost a year of appearances. During this period, sector experts, representatives of electricity companies, and public officials such as Aagesen herself and Corredor, among other involved officials, have intervened.
In its conclusions, the PP maintains that "The blackout of April 28 was not a fatality, it was not an unforeseeable accident, it was not an episode without warnings, the blackout was the result of a known vulnerability, of a system that had been warning for some time and that they did not act with the diligence required".
Asked if the party is considering going to court, Alicia García has indicated that the parliamentary group will advance "little by little" and that it will study in detail the possibility of taking legal action.
Accusations of the PP to the Government and to the regulators
The 'popular' leader has also accused the Government of Pedro Sánchez of "hiding evidence" and of trying to find "external culprits" with the aim of "covering up their responsibility".
In the same vein, Alicia García has stated that "The great blackout was not a fortuitous event, it was not an unforeseen natural catastrophe, it was the result of irresponsible management and negligent policies."
According to the PP, the Executive "has tried to install a narrative in public opinion": "Vice President Aagesen publicly defended that it had been a multifactorial, unprecedented, and unpredictable phenomenon."
Reasons why the PP blames Aagesen and Corredor
The spokesperson for the PP considers that Sara Aagesen is responsible for the blackout "for maintaining Ribera's radical and sectarian policies", as well as for "crossing her arms in the face of obvious and constant risk warnings" and "for lying to Spaniards and trying to hide the truth".
"This has a name: negligent management," Alicia García has denounced when detailing the conclusions of her group.
In relation to Beatriz Corredor, the PP maintains that she also has responsibility "because she knew the vulnerability of the system" and because "she did not adopt preventive measures with sufficient anticipation."
The report of the 'populars' adds that Corredor "reacted late on the same day of the collapse and because there has been opacity and lack of collaboration" during the development of the commission's work.
Vox, for its part, has registered its own text of conclusions, in which it summarizes that "A model that has prioritized political decisions aimed at accelerating the energy transition defended by the Government, without guaranteeing security or the necessary backup mechanisms to preserve the stability of the system".
Response of the PSOE and defense of the energy model
The PSOE has rejected the PP's document and defends that the draft opinion presented by the 'populars' does not demonstrate the existence of political responsibilities for the April 28 blackout, understanding that the determining factors are found "exclusively in a technical scope".
The socialist deputy spokesperson on the committee has stressed that "there is no single cause or agent responsible", nor "any government decision that can be justified as the cause of the blackout".
The socialists also highlight that the report of the European Panel of Experts marks "a before and an after" in the investigation and recall that said document does not point to the Government as political responsible for what happened.
In this context, the PSOE has criticized that the PP's conclusions include requests for resignation in the Ministry for Ecological Transition, something they describe as "lack of seriousness" and "respect" towards the work of the commission and towards the citizenry.
Likewise, the socialists reproach the PP for having used the commission to "fabricate a culprit where there isn't one" and try to associate the blackout with the deployment of renewable energies without sufficient technical basis.
Against the theses of the PP, the PSOE has defended its energy model based on renewables and has proposed the creation of a special study commission in the Senate to examine the available technical recommendations and propose improvements in the security and stability of the electrical system.