The Murcian municipality of Las Torres de Cotillas has brought the installation of a large biomethane and biofertilizer plant to a screeching halt. on the outskirts of its urban center. It has done so in a direct way: a binding popular consultation in which the vast majority of voters have positioned themselves against the project.
On a day marked by rain, queues at polling stations and an unusual level of mobilization for municipal elections, The neighborhood has made it clear that it does not want this industrial project in its municipality.The decision, a pioneering one in the Region of Murcia and rare in Spain, It opens a broader debate on how energy infrastructures that affect the immediate environment of citizens are decided.
Almost unanimous rejection of the biomethane plant
According to official data submitted by the City Council, 7.255 people went to the polls, which implies a participation of 37,38% of the censusSlightly above the 35% threshold set as a condition for the referendum to be binding. The figure, while far from a massive turnout, has been sufficient to give practical effect to what the ballots clearly reflected.
In total, 6.996 votes were against the biogas plant, compared to only 238 ballots in favor of the project. In addition, 10 blank votes and 11 invalid votes were recorded, leaving a very clear political and social outcome: Around 96-97% of voters rejected the installationwhile only a small percentage voted "yes".
The data was confirmed by the Torreño City Council and validated by a monitoring committee of the University of Murcia (UMU), responsible for overseeing the guarantees of the process. On the street, the reaction was immediate: late in the afternoon, dozens of residents spontaneously gathered to celebrate what they defined as "a victory for the people" amid applause, chants, and slogans against the mega-plant.
The Socialist spokesperson in the municipality, Francisco Jesus Lopez ManzaneraHe summarized the magnitude of the result by emphasizing that "around 97% of the votes were 'no'." From his perspective and that of his party, The message sent to the City Council and the development company is "quite clear and direct"., and forces the closure of this type of facility within the municipality, at least in the terms in which the current project had been proposed.
Mayor, Pedro José Noguera (PP)He also considered the matter settled, insisting that the result It will be respected because the consultation was specifically designed for the people to decide.He recalled that the project was inherited from the previous legislature and stressed that his "firm and loyal" commitment was to accept the result, whatever it might be, as long as the minimum participation level was reached.
An unprecedented municipal consultation, full of symbolism
The vote held in Las Torres de Cotillas was not a mere consultative survey. This is the first municipal-level popular consultation authorized by the Government of Spain in the Region of Murcia. and one of the few carried out nationwide on a specific industrial project, with binding effects.
The procedure formally began on January 30, 2025, when the municipal council approved asking the Central government authorization to submit the project to a citizen voteThat authorization arrived on June 3th, 2025, after the approval of the Council of Ministers and the verification that the proposal complied with the constitutional framework and the Law Regulating the Foundations of the Local Government System, which reserves for the State the competence for this type of consultation.
From there, the City Council established a consultation plan with a single question, with a "yes" or "no" answerRegarding the installation of the biomethane and biofertilizer plant using organic waste in the municipality, the University of Murcia (UMU) collaborated in defining the minimum participation threshold, which was set at 35% of the census, and also participated as an observer on election day and in the vote count.
During the preceding weeks, the mayor insisted that the process was "more transparent than municipal or national elections"He defended the presence of officials at all polling stations, the possibility of early voting, and the presence of external observers to reinforce confidence in the results. He even claimed to have requested the recording of the vote counts to avoid any suspicion.
In parallel, The UMU organized informational events with experts The meeting focused on the environment, land-use planning, and energy, and included representatives from the company promoting the plant, members of the neighborhood platform opposing it, and other independent stakeholders. The stated objective was to provide a technical overview before the public went to vote, attempting to reduce the political polarization surrounding the issue.
A multi-million dollar project by Enagás Renovable
The installation, which was rejected by the population, was promoted by Enagas Renovable, a subsidiary of the Spanish multinational Enagás specializing in renewable gases. The plan consisted of to build a plant capable of treating around 150.000 tons of organic waste annually, mainly manure and livestock by-products from farms located in the vicinity of the municipality.
The planned investment exceeded 36 millones de euros, with the intention of producing biomethane to inject into the gas network and biofertilizers resulting from the anaerobic digestion processIt was, in essence, a project aligned with European decarbonization and circular economy strategies, which promote the energy use of agricultural, livestock and urban waste as an alternative to fossil fuels.
However, the chosen location —about five kilometers from the town center— and the scale of the project They raised concerns from the outset. Citizen groups and part of the municipal opposition warned of the potential impact on air quality, the heavy traffic associated with the continuous movement of trucks, and the possible repercussions on the health of the nearby population.
The developer argued that the plant had emission treatment and control technologies comparable to those of other European facilities and that it would contribute to reducing greenhouse gases by utilizing waste that would otherwise generate methane uncontrollably. Despite these arguments, The social climate evolved towards an almost monolithic rejection, as the ballot boxes have finally confirmed.
Beyond Las Torres de Cotillas, the defeat of the project is already being interpreted in regional and European terms: Large-scale biogas and biomethane plants are presented as a key component of the energy transitionHowever, they face increasing local resistance when risks to quality of life or a disproportionate burden on certain territories are perceived; recent examples include the project archive in Cantabria.
Stop Biogas and the neighborhood mobilization: a year of struggle with the City Council
The result of the consultation cannot be understood without the role of the citizens' platform Stop Biogas Las Torres de Cotillaswhich has been the driving force behind the social opposition to the project since the first details of the plant were revealed. Its members have organized demonstrations, informational talks, petition drives, and an intense word-of-mouth campaign in neighborhoods and outlying districts; similar processes have been seen in other municipalities, such as the mobilization in Lorca.
Your president, José Hernández PedreroShe has become one of the most recognizable voices of the movement. For months she had been warning that, in her opinion, The plant's actual capacity would be much higher than the final figures provided., pointing to different versions about the tons of waste to be treated which, he claims, were well above the 150.000 tons currently recognized.
Hernández compared the situation to «build a ten-story hotel and promise that only the first floor will be used"This was a simile intended to illustrate the neighborhood's distrust regarding a possible future increase in the volume of waste managed. The platform also focused on the increase in heavy traffic, estimating up to 80 trucks entering and the same number leaving dailyMany of them are loaded with animal waste; this concern links to debates about the comprehensive waste management.
Another key argument has been health-related. According to the platform, health and environment experts who participated in public talks They warned of possible effects of certain emissions on people with pre-existing respiratory conditions, as well as risks linked to leaks in anaerobic processes, although these more serious scenarios are considered unlikely with proper design and management; similar issues were raised in other regional processes.
Furthermore, Stop Biogas warned about the impact on the development of the industrial parkIn his opinion, the proposed location could hinder the future establishment of food companies in a nearby area and become a barrier to other productive activities, in a municipality of barely 39 km² where the margin for combining industrial and residential uses is limited.
Census incidents, accusations of obstruction, and political rebuttals
Despite the general satisfaction at having exceeded 35% participation, both the platform and part of the opposition have denounced various organizational irregularities and problems with the census which, in his opinion, hindered the mobilization of the "no" vote and subtracted several hundred potential votes.
Among the most frequent complaints are the reduction in the number of polling stations compared to other processesChanges in the assignment of polling stations to certain streets and the appearance of families spread across different voting centers were also issues. Some residents discovered on election day that they had to go to a different polling station than usual, which caused queues, confusion, and frustration.
Stop Biogas and representatives of the local PSOE also claim that it occurred little institutional dissemination of the call for elections and early votingThe platform and opposition parties were burdened with the task of informing people door-to-door and through social media. According to reports, some registered voters who had turned 18 after the initial referendum decree was published were only able to vote after going to the Town Hall to obtain a specific certificate, in a process described as "slow" and "cumbersome."
Hernández Pedrero himself states that «Everything has been thrown in the way to prevent reaching 35%."Although the threshold was ultimately exceeded. Had these incidents not occurred and with more favorable weather, the platform maintains that 'nearly a thousand more votes' could have been added to the count."
From the local government, Mayor Noguera has acknowledged specific problems in the census, such as the disappearance of some streets or families that did not appear registeredattributing them to technical difficulties and the expansion of the electoral register to include foreign residents with voting rights. However, it maintains that, despite the complications, democratic minimums have been guaranteed and that the University of Murcia has ensured the integrity of the process.
PSOE and Podemos: political interpretation and demands for more guarantees
On the political front, the consultation has deepened the differences between the government team and the opposition. The local PSOE maintains that the entire procedure was forced by social pressure. and that the City Council acted late and in a non-transparent manner, initially aligning itself with the promoting company.
López Manzanera has pointed out on several occasions the allocation of municipal spaces for company information eventsThe placement of promotional posters and the late dissemination of relevant details about early voting were cited as examples of an "unbalanced" design. Even so, the PSOE has accepted the result, provided—it emphasizes—that no serious irregularities are detected in the overall count, including the early voting.
The purple formation Podemos has also openly celebrated the victory of the "no" vote.. His spokesperson and communications secretary, Victor EgioHe described the moment the results were announced as "historic" and called on the regional president, Fernando Lopez Miras, the call for a regional referendum on the installation of large-scale biogas plants in the Community.
Egio argues that «The population of all affected municipalities should be able to decide on projects that directly impact their quality of life"And he believes that what happened in Las Torres de Cotillas exemplifies what happens 'when people are allowed to participate and are given a voice.' His interpretation connects with a broader debate in Europe about the use of local and regional consultations to validate large energy and infrastructure projects."
In this context, socialist voices have also warned that the The useful life of such an installation far exceeds a municipal mandate.Therefore, they considered it essential to reinforce information, transparency and democratic guarantees above what is usual in local elections.
A day of queues, umbrellas, and WhatsApp messages exchanged
Beyond the cold, hard facts, the day of the referendum produced some unusual scenes for a typical Sunday. From the opening of the polling stations at 10:00 a.m., Hundreds of residents came to the six centers set up to voteMany of them were carrying umbrellas or raincoats due to the intermittent rain.
In places like the CEIP Cervantes, located a short distance from the Town HallFrom the very beginning, the majority's voting intentions were clear. People of all ages expressed their desire to mark the "no" box on the ballot, repeating phrases like "I don't want this for myself or my children" or "it's important to come, even if the weather isn't great."
The mobilization relied heavily on social media and WhatsApp message chainswhere families and groups of friends reminded each other of the polling station closing time or shared photos of themselves leaving the voting booth. There were cases of residents who went to great lengths to get to their polling station, such as a couple who arrived shortly before catching a flight scheduled just two and a half hours later.
There were also emotional scenes of elderly people with reduced mobility who insisted on attending in person, accompanied by family members, as a gesture of support for a position that, in many cases, they had been defending for months in neighborhood talks and community meetings.
As the polls closed and the count was well underway, Tired faces mingled with feelings of relief and victory among the members of the platform and residents involved in the mobilization. The official announcement of the result, with such a resounding "no," unleashed applause in the square and solidified a climate of unity that, according to those who participated, had not been seen in the municipality for years.
Direct participation and large-scale biogas plants: a debate that goes beyond a municipality
The experience of Las Torres de Cotillas is part of a broader context, both in Spain and in the European Union, where The expansion of biogas and biomethane is considered strategic for the energy transitionBut at the same time, it causes controversy when projects are perceived as excessive macro-installations or poorly integrated into their environment.
In the Region of Murcia, as in other territories with a strong agricultural and livestock presence, initiatives to utilize slurry, manure and other organic waste for energy purposes. This approach aims to reduce uncontrolled methane emissions, prevent spills, and generate a renewable energy product that can be injected into gas networks; it has also led to protests in other municipalities.
However, the implementation of these facilities raises challenges in terms of social acceptance and distribution of environmental burdensLocal communities, such as that of Las Torres de Cotillas, demand to be consulted when they believe that the accumulation of large projects on their territory may increase heavy traffic, odors, the risk of polluting emissions or the pressure to expand macro-farms that feed waste to the plants.
At the European level, different regions have begun to use local consultations, municipal plebiscites or formal participatory processes to decide on energy infrastructure, from wind and solar farms to incinerators or biogas plants. Proponents of this approach argue that direct participation improves the legitimacy of decisions and compels companies to design projects that are more environmentally conscious.
In the case of Torreño, the resounding "no" vote does not call into question the role of biomethane within European climate policies, but it does It issues a warning about how, where, and under what conditions these facilities are intended to be implemented.For many residents, the rejection is not based on a generic opposition to renewable energies, but on the perception that the balance between local benefits and risks was not properly calibrated.
With the query now resolved, The City Council must now formalize the necessary urban planning and administrative procedures to prevent the construction of the plant at the initially planned site. The debate, however, is unlikely to end here: the pressure to advance the energy transition and circular waste management will remain, and municipalities throughout Spain and Europe will be keeping a close eye on what happened in Las Torres de Cotillas when designing their own models for citizen participation in controversial projects.
The resounding "no" expressed in this binding consultation paints a clear picture: a municipality that has mobilized to decide on its development model, a business project that will have to be rethought and a democratic tool that is underutilized in Spain, which in this case has placed citizens at the center of a key decision on energy, territory and quality of life.
