A Country of Windmills

The development of the wind energy sector in Spain is a special case in Europe. A stable regulatory framework, an attractive, financial incentive system and a powerful industry came together to produce a deployment process that was both swift and unopposed. Nonetheless, the rapid development of such an extensive energy source has led to conflict between its supporters and opponents and has had a dramatic impact on land use and the landscape, by giving the rural space a new function and by affecting or altering existing landscapes or even by building a new kind of landscape. The economic crisis has brought this accelerated development to an abrupt end, and society’s attitude to it has also changed. The wind sector, with its contradictions and conflicts, has contributed decisively to intensifying the territorial debate and to arousing social awareness of landscape in Spain.