Island facts
Arousa is a small island of 7km² in the middle of the Ría de Arousa, known for its beautiful landscapes, beaches, nature and rich cultural life. It is connected to the mainland by a 2 km-long bridge. Most of Arousa’s 5,000 inhabitants work in the fishing and mussel industry.
The main source of energy on Arousa is wind, but the island struggles with energy efficiency in buildings, and a significant transport problem: with very few public transport facilities on the island, there is a circulation of around 3,000 cars, as well as a high number of small and bigger boats used by the inhabitants for work.
A community threatened by climate change
With climate-related sea-level rise on the horizon, the already small island of Arousa will become even smaller, threatening the living environment of the island’s inhabitants. On top of that, with sea temperatures rising, the inhabitants’ sustenance is in danger.
This makes the local community highly concerned about climate change, both for existing and future generations.
A small island with a big vision
The islanders recognise the opportunity climate mitigation brings to their community, such as the potential to reinvest money saved through using less energy. They aim to build a vision for their energy transition and identify creative ways to finance concrete projects led by the island’s inhabitants.
News
In the context of the Clean Energy for EU Islands Online Forum, a number of island communities organised Local Transition Days.
Clean energy transition was the heart of the party at the Illa de Arousa Energy Days from 29-30 July, organised by the local energy transition team in collaboration with the cooperative Nosa Enerxia.
Related Publications
Videos
As part of the EU Islands Initiative's energy transition workshop, the Secretariat and the Spanish Institute for Diversification and Saving of Energy (IDAE) are organising an online workshop on 3...
Documents
- Portuguese, Portugal