Abstract
We explore the processes through which small hydropower and later on wind-power landscapes emerged in the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Andalusia (southern Spain) and the evolution of landscape practices and landscape values related with these energies. Throughout the history of small hydro development in our study area, the attitudes to it have varied between rejection and acceptance. At the same time, the landscape features inherent to them were sometimes perceived as negative impacts and sometimes assimilated positively as new landscape values, depending on the historical and social context. The analysis of the evolution of hydropower in mountain landscapes and the related practices provides useful lessons for understanding the influence of new forms of renewable energy, not only in terms of their landscape impact but also in terms of the role of landscape values in determining their acceptance or rejection by different stakeholders.
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Notes
- 1.
Most of our study area forms part of the Sierra Nevada natural space, which itself belongs to the Red Natura 2000–Nature Network 2000 (ZEC Special Conservation Area and ZEPA Special Protection Areas for Birds). Sierra Nevada was declared ‘Biosphere Reserve’ by UNESCO, ‘National Park’ by the Spanish Government and ‘Natural Park’ by the Regional Government of Andalusia. There are also a number of smaller sites protected under different status concepts such as the Nigüelas Fault Natural Monument, the Ramsar Site in Padúl and the glacial lakes near the mountain peaks (both part of the IHA Inventory of Wetlands of Andalusia).
- 2.
The ‘Alpujarra Media y Tahá’ was declared a historical site by the Regional Government of Andalusia.
- 3.
Its boundaries encompass Pradollano, the Sierra Nevada ski resort, which has around one million visitors each winter (Cetursa, http://cetursa.es/ 2012). As a result, this village has a much higher demand for energy than the others we studied. In 2010, for example, the demand for electricity per capita in Monachil was 8.08 MW compared to 2–4 MW per capita in the other villages in the study area (based on the data of Sistema de Información Multiterritorial de Andalucía 2010, http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/institutodeestadisticaycartografia/sima/).
- 4.
The tram link closed in early 1974, not only because it was losing money but also because construction of the Canales reservoir was about to begin, and 5 km of the track were due to be flooded.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the French government (Research Programme IMR Ignis Mutat Res, Project ‘Ressources paysagères et ressources énergétiques dans le montagnes sud-européennes’) and the Spanish Ministry of the Economy and Competitiveness (CSO2011-23670) for supporting this research.
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Frolova, M., Jiménez-Olivencia, Y., Sánchez-del Árbol, MÁ., Requena-Galipienso, A., Pérez-Pérez, B. (2015). The Evolution of Renewable Landscapes in Sierra Nevada (Southern Spain). In: Frolova, M., Prados, MJ., Nadaï, A. (eds) Renewable Energies and European Landscapes. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9843-3_7
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