Seven Méntrida wineries, with vineyards in the territory of the Méntrida Denomination of Origin (Almavid-Bodega López Campos, A Pie De Tierra, Bodegas Arrayán, Bodega Borbotón, Bodegas Jiménez-Landi, Proyecto Uva de Vida and Vitícola Mentridana) have signed a manifesto in which they oppose the current cascade of photovoltaic projects in the area and request concrete actions from the Government of Castilla-La Mancha and the Regulatory Council of the DO Méntrida.
The signatories of the manifesto ‘In defense of the territory, the landscape and biodiversity. In defense of the vineyards and our way of life’ they show their concern about the avalanche of photovoltaic macro-plant projects in the PDO Méntrida area, where the projects occupy 2,400 hectares, 27% of its territory.
They also know that these projects will mean the uprooting of vineyards, centuries-old olive trees and wooded areas of high landscape and ecological value, which would mean the loss of the environment and the cultural and historical heritage of the region.
For this reason, they oppose these projects and see themselves in the “moral, social and economic obligation to express our appreciation to those who want to continue with agricultural work, especially viticulture.” They are also opposed to any expropriation of rustic land, “especially if it is a vineyard attached to the Méntrida PDO, to install photovoltaic panels”, express the wineries in the manifesto, in which they defend the wine-growing landscape of the area, included in the National Cultural Landscape Plan approved in 2012
“Given the concern about the serious environmental effects and biodiversity that these projects, conceived on many occasions in totally inadequate areas, represent in the face of malpractice by private developers”, they urge the Government of Castilla-La Mancha to establish elements of protection of the territory, the landscape and agricultural and wine-growing activity, through a binding zoning for renewable energy promoters, the approval of the Landscape Law of Castilla-La Mancha, as well as the approval of the Law of the Vineyard and the Wine of Castilla-La Mancha.
And they ask the Council of the Méntrida PDO to “actively defend the environment, the survival of the vineyards and the future of its wineries, as stated in article 8 of its statutes.”
