The PSOE has stated this Wednesday in Congress its opposition to ending the activity of the Bardenas shooting range, in Navarra, arguing that it is "vital" for the preparation of the units of the Air and Space Army.
The socialist position was made explicit during the debate of a proposal promoted by Sumar, PNV, Bildu, and Podemos, which demand the cessation of military maneuvers in this enclave, taking advantage of the fact that the lease agreement signed between the Ministry of Defense and the Bardenas Community Board 75 years ago concludes in 2028.
This shooting range is the main live-fire training ground for the Air and Space Army and NATO forces, and it is located within the Bardenas Reales Natural Park, declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO since 2000.
The proposing groups maintain that the military presence causes "profound negative impacts" in Navarra. Among them, they mention more than 70 accidents registered, 30 of them outside the perimeter of the range, which have caused planes and projectiles to fall in civilian areas; the "constant" noise pollution derived from low-altitude fighter jet flights; the "serious" environmental impact from the use of ammunition; and the "socioeconomic limitation" that "mortgages" the economic and labor development of the area due to the rents received by the contracting entities for the military lease.
On behalf of PNV, Bildu, Sumar, and Podemos, it is demanded, for "social justice," the implementation of "necessary and sufficient" financing and projects that allow for the consolidation of a new socioeconomic and labor fabric that generates alternatives in the area.
During the parliamentary discussion, EH Bildu deputy Isabel Pozueta assured that "the majority" of the local population rejects the shooting range, and that this rejection is "not circumstantial or partisan," but born from "social and political consensus."
Sumar deputy Lander Martínez criticized that the future of Bardenas is "too often" presented as "a false dichotomy: shooting range or prosperity" and stressed that his group considers it an "unfair choice."
For her part, the PNV spokesperson in Congress, Maribel Vaquero, stated that the involved institutions "have time to end a cycle and begin a new one for Bardenas."
Support from ERC and Coalición Canaria for the initiative
In the same session, the ERC representative, Francesc Marc Álvaro Vidal, and the Canary Coalition deputy, Cristina Valido, expressed their support for the proposal.
The ERC parliamentarian described the "historical presence" of the Army on national territory as an "anomaly" and criticized that barracks generate "unhealthy dependence" in certain places, while the Canary deputy called for the suppression of the Pájara Shooting Range, belonging to the Army and located in Fuerteventura.
PSOE, PP, Vox and UPN close ranks in defense of the polygon
Faced with this initiative, the PSOE has aligned itself with PP, Vox and UPN to vote against it. The deputy spokesperson for the PSOE in the Congress Defense Commission, Caridad Rives, emphasized that the Executive intends to provide the Armed Forces with the "best capabilities" and that, in this context, the Bardenas Polygon is "vital".
Rives added that the Air Force "only uses 4% of the Natural Park's surface for impact zones 62 days a year and 96% of the time without explosive ordnance" and recalled that, of the 19 municipalities, two inter-municipal entities and the Monastery of Oliva with the right to vote on the military enclave, only one spoke out against it.
The PP deputy Carlos García Adanero expressed similar views, arguing that the shooting range is "fundamental" for national defense and "fundamental" for the training of the Armed Forces.
The Vox deputy Francisco José Alcaraz Martos described the initiative as "repugnant" and "infamous" and maintained that its objective is to "kick the Army out of Navarre" and that it comes "from ETA's party," referring to Bildu.
Finally, the UPN deputy, Alberto Catalán, denounced the "hypocrisy" of the promoting groups. "Where it governs, Bildu does not renounce the 500,000 euros annually it receives from the rent for the Salazar Valley; Sumar is co-responsible for the largest budget increase in history in the Ministry of War; and the PNV defends and protects the arms industry in the Basque Country," he concluded.