The Congress of Deputies rejected on Tuesday, July 22, the so -called “antiapagones” decree, a rule that sought to strengthen the electrical system after the blackout last April 28.
The parliamentary defeat. The text, approved in the Council of Ministers as Royal Decree-Law 7/2025, did not achieve the necessary support for its validation: 183 votes against 165 in favor. Among the negative votes were those of PP, Vox, Podemos, Junts, BNG and UPN, in addition to the deputy of the Aragonese Chunta integrated in Addar, Jorge Pueyo, who broke the vote discipline.
This varapalo, which arrives just before the summer break, prevents the application of a package of urgent technical measures for the Spanish energy system. The norm sought, among other things, to improve the supervision of the electricity grid, to facilitate access to new industries, promote self -consumption and penalize breaches by large electricity.
Not so bad. Although the Government managed to move forward six of the seven laws that led to the plenary, the fall of the most strategic decree of the day left a feeling of defeat. As RTVE collected, from Montevideo, where he is on tour, Pedro Sánchez tried to remove iron from the matter: “Not so bad,” said government sources recognize their “disappointment” to what they consider a vote “against the general interest.”
Behind the rejection. The reasons that have ended in this situation are as diverse as the matches that have lying it. On the one hand, the Popular Party has considered that the norm was an undercover support for an energy policy that they consider failed and unre transparent, in addition to criticizing that there has been no resignation after the blackout of April 28. On the other hand, Podemos has unmarked from its government partners when considering that the decree did not contain real sanctions against the electric oligopoly and have labeled it with “legislative makeup” without transformative effects. In the case of Vox, the rejection has been ideological and frontal to any initiative of the Executive.
Other formations such as Junts and BNG have interpreted the text as an excessive assignment to large energy companies and wanted to mark distances at a key moment of negotiation with the government. Together, the norm has ended up being a victim of a fragmented legislature, of cross interests and of the political distrust even within the block that supports the Executive.
The origin of the decree. As detailed by the jump, the decree was born in June after a report that blamed the blackout of April 28 to Red Eléctrica de España and the great generators (Endesa, Iberdrola, Naturgy). The measures, as explained by Vice President Third Sara Aagesen, intended to prevent new crises such as that and unlock pending projects in a saturated electrical system. Aagesen appealed to the “social consensus” behind the norm, which had the support of business associations, environmentalists and the renewable sector.
By eating the decree. The Royal Decree-Law 7/2025 was more technical than political, but with deep implications. According to the jump, some of its keys were greater public control (such as CNMC reports more frequent and more agile authorizations, even with the possibility of sharing connection points.
Despite not containing a structural transformation of the energy model or a public company, some groups celebrated it as a “first step” to decentralize the system. As noted from the same media, the Alliance for Self -Consumption, which brings together more than 60 social entities, described the decree as “the great lever” to democratize energy. It was also positively valued for allowing renewable energies to act as support energy, a function so far reserved for thermal plants.
The theme is deeper. The Spanish electrical system is saturated: only one in ten requests for access to the network was met in 2024, despite the fact that there was an unused technical capacity, as indicated in the energy newspaper. This rigidity is a brake for strategic industrial projects such as green hydrogen, battery manufacturing or data centers, which require agile and stable connections. The decree tried to anticipate these problems with more dynamic planning and proactive regulations, in line with the recommendations of the European Commission.
Once summer ends. The Government has announced its intention to reformulate the text, but the coup is significant. Meanwhile, the PP plans to present an alternative law together with the Autonomous Communities. According to expansion, the employers of the energy sector ask for rapid solutions and warn of the risks for competitiveness if it does not act urgently. Every month of delay represents lost opportunities to attract green and industrial investment.
A blocked opportunity. The antiapages decree was not perfect, but necessary, according to a good part of the sector. Its rejection shows the limitations of Spanish energy policy, where faced interests, power struggles and internal distrust weigh more than climatic or industrial urgency.
Now, while the country dealt with a collapsed electricity and the ghost of new blackouts, the clock is still running. And every month without a solution is a less opportunity to lead the energy transition that Europe demands and that Spain could lead.
Image | José Sáez (Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License)
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