A green place to stay in Spain
Alastair Sawday Publishing Co. Ltd has selected Los Piedaos for inclusion in their Guide to Green Europe (published May 2009)Their editor wrote to us :- ".................congratulations on the 'ethical stamps' you have been awarded. I would also like to congratulate you on your excellent approach to "green", sustainable living. Choosing the places to invite into the guide to Green Europe (pub May 2009) has been an incredibly challenging task. The guide is one of the first of its kind and we would like our criteria to be the benchmark for the future of ecotourism in Europe. Some of the Ethical Stamps were awarded to owners for demonstrating real enthusiasm for, or commitment to, sustainable living even if they are not quite able to demonstrate bold steps. If this book is to become a success, however, it must be considered meaningful by committed green readers, journalists, NGOs and owners alike. We have, therefore, decided only to include places that can be held up as having taken unusually progressive steps towards running as 'low impact' a business as possible. We believe that you are one of those owners and I am thrilled to invite you to be included in the guide to Green Europe." In an editorial in The Guardian, the UK's top "environmental" newspaper, SPAIN has been praised for its efforts to reduce its contribution to climate change., the Guardian wrote: “While the country has built its reputation as a holiday destination by developing the coastline, it has responded positively to public awareness of environmental issues by looking to reduce its carbon footprint." It praised the plans to reduce speed limits to save fuel as well as looking at improving the public transport infrastructure and building more environmentally-friendly cars. Labelling the country “progressive”, it insists that Spain is setting a good example to other nations. “Long sought out for its heat, Spain is suddenly playing a noble role in keeping the world as a whole cool,” ANDALUCIAN authorities are going on a crusade in a bid to make up to 20 per cent of energy from green sources within five years. Under a new scheme, the Junta is promoting numerous types of energy schemes in 14 distinct areas. The project – called the Andalucia Sustainable Energy Plan – aims to have 18.3 per cent of the region’s energy supplied form sustainable sources by 2013. As well as planning 16 plants of biodiesal, there will be more wind and solar panels subsidised. In total it is hoped that wind power will grow by almost three times over the next five years. There is a wind farm in Lanjaron and a 3.5 Mw solar generating plant in Orgiva. A SERIES OF ENERGY SAVING measures have put Spain as a whole at the head of environmental legislation. The changes, announced in August 2008, may be a foretaste of the kind of policies which will be forced upon an energy-hungry industrial world in the coming decades. In a bid to save on petrol use, the government plans to cut motorway speed limits to 100kph, dual carriageways to 80kph and town speeds to 50kph. New austerity rules will be imposed on the air conditioning and heating of all public buildings. Street-lighting will be cut by half. Almost 50 million low-energy light bulbs will be handed out by the government in an attempt to drive high-consumption bulbs out of the market in the next four years. The government will also sponsor a project intended to introduce a million electric or hybrid electric/petrol cars on to Spanish roads by 2014. The sweeping plans are intended to reduce Spain’s huge dependency on imported oil by 10 per cent, Environment minisiter Miguel Sebastian, said, for Spaniards to “ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.” “Every time we lift our feet off the accelerator, we are improving GDP and employment,” Mr Sebastian said. “The era of cheap energy has passed.” The energy shock caused by the boom in oil prices in the past year has hit Spain especially hard. Spain has scant energy resources of its own and is more dependent on fossil fuels for its energy needs – 84 per cent – than any other European Union country. Mr Sebastian said that Spain had spent €17bn on importing oil in the past 12 months. The country’s trade deficit is expected to soar this year by 13 per the olive press THE BIG ISSUE cent to €42.8bn. Among the plans the speed limit on dual carriageways would be cut from 100kph to 80kph while the urban speed limit would fall to 40kph. Despite Spain’s baking summers, air conditioning systems in public buildings would be set no lower than 26C. In winter, the heating would be limited to 21C. Hospitals will be exempted, and so will private homes and offices. The government also plans to remove, or dim, millions of street lights, to reduce their energy consumption by half. Public transport in many cities will operate into the early hours at the weekends to persuade motorists to leave cars at home. All Spanish government vehicles will be expected to cover one fifth of their energy needs with biofuels. TO CHECK ON AVAILABILITY OF HOLIDAY COTTAGES AND BOOK YOUR STAY AT LOS PIEDAOS, PLEASE GO HERE 
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