European Union links with the UK post Brexit

At a moment when energy security has never mattered more, Spain is preparing to close one of its most reliable sources of clean power.

The Almaraz Nuclear Power Plant has quietly powered Spain for over four decades. Construction began in the 1970s; Unit I entered commercial service in 1983, Unit II in 1984. Notably, 81% of the plant’s construction was carried out by Spanish companies, making it a point of national industrial pride from the start. Today, Almaraz supplies more than 7% of the electricity consumed in Spain. This is the equivalent of powering 4 million homes, around the clock, every day of the year, regardless of weather.

That outsized contribution isn’t unique to Almaraz. Nationally, nuclear power plants made up just 5.28% of Spain’s installed generation capacity in 2025, yet they produced 19.06% of the electricity generated that year. Few other sources deliver that much output from that small a footprint, a clear indicator of nuclear’s high capacity factor and its value as always-on baseload power.

Despite that record, Spain has scheduled Almaraz for closure in 2027 (Unit 1) and 2028 (Unit 2), part of a full nuclear phaseout across the country by 2035.

Spain and Scotland have completely different systems. The one in Spain is very simple and straight forward. It is assumed that the legislation is based after the Spanish Civil War, but more research would be required for this.  It is an interesting subject, that Spain had so many difficulties and has come out glowing, while Northern Ireland and Scotland, and indeed the whole of the UK lags behind.  Perhaps it is because the Spanish have such a strong sense of family and fairness, in general.

In both Spain and Scotland football is king, yet only in Spain do they uphold Human Rights. Football is a great game loved by all, but is Scotland fit to reenter the European Union if it does not uphold Human Rights. 

The eternal question in the United Kingdom is whether they should have left the European Union at all.  The Scots have their own approach, and have been to see the powers that be in Barcelona to discuss the problem many times.  However, while Scotland is still part of the United Kingdom it is unlikely that they will be able to rejoin the EU on their own terms.

The question of electricity supply raises its ugly head again. With blackouts in Spain due to poor planning on the infrastructure, the UK has a lot to learn from the Spanish.  They are always well ahead in technology as was seen in the Politecnica de Madrid twenty years ago.  They invest in companies in the UK, particularly in banking and the space development companies, and are far advanced in their economy than the UK is, despite many years in the wilderness during the Franco years.

Barcelona is a great city. Las Ramblas offer great eating and cafes, and great accommodation.  The train  from London to Paris, Barcelona and Madrid and Malaga... A fantastic trip, second to none. 

The Festival of Europe in Scotland is taking place next week. Many people would like to rejoin Europe, so it will be a good opportunity to examine the situation with Spain.  On energy, they are not doing well, as there was a big outage a couple of weeks ago. There was an election on 7 May 2026 in Scotland, so we will see what happens there.

When it comes to legal matters, Spain is really second to none. They respond in a timely manner, sometimes in Spanish, sometimes in English. They engage and are prompt and reliable. The Defensor del Pueblo can advise accordingly, as can the Human Rights Commission in Spain. 

We have been doing some research into legal matters in Spain and it transpires that the system is very user friendly and helpful, even when the problems emanate in the United Kingdom, when the UK is no longer part of the European Union.  Of course, if you speak the language, it is easier, but in my experience, you get replies in both Spanish and English.

Using Scotonomics, which is linked to IndyLive, Barcelona also wants independence. Barcelona City has said it is going to push ahead with its pilot scheme to roll out a cashless local currency  for  2017 and 2018 in the working class Besòs district in the northeast of the city with the idea is for the currency to become legal tender in 2019.  We start to explore this phenomenan with a Scotonomics paper 

Crimes committed in Northern Ireland are not often logged in the Republic of Ireland, although we know of one which was, as the Garda were very helpful.  Offences committed in Northern Ireland are not logged in England and Wales either, even Action Fraud.  Therefore Northern Ireland is in isolation.  Now, with the judicial system in disarray they do not really know what to do, as the cross border problems enter Scotland, who had nothing to do with the original problem, except that Scotland was the place deemed to be the place where a British citizen lived by the magistrates court in Northern Ireland.  As we understood it, a person can live where he or she likes, without judicial interference, but apparently not in this case.