The request for a moratorium on large biomethane plants in Navarre has gained traction after thousands of citizen endorsements were delivered to Parliament. The neighborhood platforms of Viana, Los Arcos, Lodosa, and Sesma are demanding a halt to large-scale projects so they can rigorously assess their fit within the region.
At the same time, the Government of Navarra has expressed reservations about the legal and economic impact of this measure, pointing to possible patrimonial liabilities if the process is suddenly halted. The debate, therefore, revolves around social pressure, regulatory urgency, and energy plans already underway.
What citizen platforms are asking for
Representatives of these coordinators have deposited in the regional Chamber more than 10.000 allegations demanding an immediate moratorium. After the registration, they gathered outside Parliament with messages such as "Stop Biomethane, Moratorium Now," emphasizing that, in their view, there is a lack of public planning and sufficient guarantees.
Citizen concern has increased in Lizarraldea and Erriberagoitia, and in Navarrese municipalities such as Viana, Lodosa, Sesma, Los Arcos, Mendavia, Arroitz, Sartaguda, Bargota and ArasNearby towns in La Rioja and Araba, such as Alcanadre and Oion, have also echoed the situation, fearing a knock-on effect on waste management and heavy transport.
Projects in the spotlight and magnitudes
The platforms indicate four macro plants planned between Arróniz, Sesma, Los Arcos and Viana, located between 10 and 20 kilometers from each other. They maintain that They are not linked to specific agricultural and livestock farms and that its supply would be covered with raw material collected in a wide area.
They also question the volume of waste to be treated: 563.500 annual tons in an area with low livestock farming, a scale that they consider disproportionate and difficult to integrate with environmental limits and the carrying capacity of the soil.
Impacts and risks raised
Recurring objections include the lack of a clear planning, effective controls and social debate sufficient. They argue that the current process prioritizes business-focused corporate initiatives over long-term territorial and health assessments.
On a practical level, they point to harmful effects: greater truck traffic to move waste from remote areas, pressure to expand the number and size of farms, and doubts about the traceability and quality of fertilizer by-products, with the potential presence of unwanted compounds.
Another sensitive issue is nitrates. The digestate resulting from the process requires careful management to avoid surpluses, and they point out that Navarra has gone from 4 to 12 areas declared vulnerable due to nitrates, with an increase from 99.259 to 247.955 hectares in recent years, a trend that they fear these macro-installations could aggravate if not accompanied by limits and controls.
What moratorium is being proposed?
The proposal submitted to the groups in the House consists of suspend immediately Projects that are still in the pipeline and do not have authorization will be suspended in order to open a review process. This suspension would not affect plants designed to serve a single agricultural or livestock farm with a capacity of less than 10.000 tons per year.
The purpose is to activate a broad territorial debate throughout Navarre to study local needs, suitability and impacts with criteria of decentralization, self-sufficiency and quality, and involve social, cultural and designation of origin sectors that have already submitted claims.
The position of the regional government and the political scene
From the Executive, the third vice president, Begoña Alfaro, has pointed out that, while sharing the objective of ordering the deployment, the drafting of a general moratorium could generate financial liability if it does not distinguish the degree of progress of each file.
Rural Development also handles the figure of 15 biomethanation projects in different phases in Navarre, most of them geared toward self-consumption, which, in the Government's opinion, requires carefully calibrating any suspension so as not to paralyze already mature initiatives.
At the institutional level, the mayor of Tudela has criticized the possible installation of a macro plant linked to the treatment plant and has cited that the Parliament of Navarre recently approved a specific moratorium on the planned Sesma plant. These types of decisions, localized and case-by-case, illustrate the complexity of balancing strategic projects with environmental and urban planning safeguards.
With the platforms pushing for a regulatory pause, the Government warning of legal risks and several projects on the table, the pulse over the moratorium on large biomethane plants in Navarre is now focused on set clear rules: where they make sense, what size, with what controls and under what limits so that the energy transition does not overwhelm the territory.