Under the plan, the regional government would extend its existing Impuesto sobre la Afección Medioambiental, a levy on environmental impact, to these photovoltaic plants, at a rate of €600 to €2,000 per hectare.
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“The tax is purely fiscally motivated and unjustified, and it penalises an activity that generates local socio-economic development and strengthens the competitiveness of all consumers,” says José Donoso, Director General of Spain’s photovoltaic industry association, Unión Española Fotovoltaica (UNEF).
Solar parks already pay multiple levies
UNEF points out that solar parks already pay taxes at several levels. These include the Impuesto sobre Actividades Económicas (IAE, a business tax), the Impuesto sobre el Valor de la Producción de la Energía Eléctrica (IVPEE, a tax on the value of electricity generation) and the Impuesto sobre la Electricidad (IEE, an electricity tax).
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At municipal level, there are further charges, and according to UNEF, municipalities that host solar parks already receive around €10,000 per MW of installed capacity each year. The association also points to the wider benefits. Its recent study shows that Spanish society saves €8 on the electricity price for every €1 invested in photovoltaics, and that solar energy has saved Spanish consumers more than €17 billion over the past 18 months.
Tax base disadvantages biodiversity-friendly projects
UNEF also criticises the way the tax is calculated. It is based on the area occupied in hectares, so plants in the north of the region, where there is less sunshine, pay the same per hectare as those further south while generating less power. It also hits hardest the projects that have done most to fit into their surroundings, for example through biodiversity measures, grazing, cultivation or beekeeping.
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“Behind this unjustified tax announced by the Regional Government of Castilla y León lies a supposed environmental compensation. But this is not the case,” UNEF says. According to the association, all the projects affected have already received a positive environmental assessment from the regional government. It adds that the revenue from the tax would go into the region’s general budget, so the municipalities hosting the plants would see no direct benefit.
Self-consumption and industry also affected
UNEF also argues that the tax exemptions do not adequately take into account shared self-consumption, which a recent government decree, Real Decreto-ley 7/2026, has made possible. In its view, this could prevent local businesses and industrial operations from using this option to improve their competitiveness.
“This is a tax on the future, on the opportunities for economic development and on the competitiveness of Spanish companies and citizens who benefit, thanks to solar energy, from a clean, affordable and homegrown technology that helps keep people in rural areas, attracts industry to our country and gives our companies a competitive edge,” Donoso concludes. (nhp)
