Each year, the Municipality of Pratdip receives a subsidy of nearly €300,000 under the Plan de Desarrollo Socioeconómico del Entorno Nuclear. This funding is provided by ANAV (Asociación Nuclear Ascó-Vandellòs) to support municipalities located in the vicinity of the Vandellòs nuclear power plant.
This funding has a clearly defined objective: to improve living conditions, safety and local development in the affected areas. In this context, Planas del Rey, located just a few kilometres from the nuclear power plant, is one of the communities directly concerned.
What benefits for Planas del Rey?
This subsidy is intended to finance projects benefiting municipalities located near the nuclear power plant. However, it is difficult to identify projects funded through this programme that have directly benefited Planas del Rey.
Over several decades, this funding has represented several million euros for the municipality. In this context, some property owners question what investments could have been made in Planas del Rey, particularly regarding infrastructure, public safety and public facilities.
Today, residents continue to face deteriorating roads, limited public lighting and the absence of specific infrastructure related to nuclear emergency preparedness.
How is this subsidy being used?
This raises a legitimate question: how are the funds provided under the Plan de Desarrollo Socioeconómico del Entorno Nuclear distributed across the municipality?
The investments appear to benefit mainly the village of Pratdip. This raises the question of the extent to which Planas del Rey, despite being directly affected by its proximity to the nuclear power plant, also benefits from this funding.
Are the evacuation routes suitable in the event of an emergency?
In the event of an accident at the Vandellòs nuclear power plant, residents of Planas del Rey have two possible evacuation routes: Exit A towards Vandellòs i l’Hospitalet de l’Infant and Exit B towards Pratdip.
Both routes cross a forest area exposed to wildfire risk and present several constraints, including relatively narrow carriageways, sharp bends and narrow bridges that could complicate a large-scale evacuation.
Exit A has road markings and partial street lighting. However, it lies within the municipality of Vandellòs i l’Hospitalet de l’Infant and does not appear to have undergone any specific improvements designed to reinforce its role as an evacuation route.
Exit B towards Pratdip has no public lighting and lacks road markings along much of its route. Its narrow bridge could also restrict traffic flow during an evacuation.
In this context, it is reasonable to ask whether investments financed through this subsidy could contribute to improving evacuation conditions and the safety of residents in Planas del Rey.
In the event of a simultaneous wildfire or another emergency, the characteristics of these two routes deserve particular attention, given the role they could play in evacuating the residential development.
Exit A
Exit B
International conventions and the protection of the population
It is worth recalling that Spain is a party to several International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) conventions, including the Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident (1986) and the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (1986, amended in 2007). These international commitments include measures aimed at strengthening the prevention, information and protection of populations exposed to nuclear risk.
In this context, the evacuation conditions available to residents of Planas del Rey raise a number of questions. Located just a few kilometres from the Vandellòs nuclear power plant, the residential development has two access roads whose characteristics deserve careful consideration as part of emergency planning and civil protection measures.
Conclusion
The annual subsidy linked to the proximity of the nuclear power plant is intended to support the development and safety of the municipalities concerned. In this context, it is legitimate for property owners in Planas del Rey to ask what tangible benefits this programme has brought to the residential development over the years.
Among the questions that deserve greater clarification are:
- the investments financed through this subsidy;
- the measures implemented to improve emergency preparedness and risk management;
- the alert and evacuation arrangements available for Planas del Rey;
- the information provided to residents in the event of an emergency.
Greater transparency regarding the use of these funds would help residents better understand the investments made and assess the extent to which they fulfil the objectives of the programme financed by ANAV.
31/08/2025
Jim – La Tribune de Planas
Update
A resident of Planas reported that, in response to messages from concerned neighbours, the Town Hall indicated that tests were being carried out “to ensure everything works properly in the event of an emergency.” According to this information, the tests are being conducted jointly by Civil Protection, PENTA and the municipality. To date, however, no official communication has been issued to all residents of Planas regarding these activities.
Read also: Second-Class Residential Developments: The Case of Planas del Rey
