Collective complaint on prolonged electricity cuts affecting families and children in Cañada Real, Madrid
The European Committee of Social Rights found that Spain had violated rights upheld in the European Social Charter in a case brought on behalf of people living without adequate access to energy in Cañada Real. Spain was found to be liable since it is a State’s responsibility to realize the rights in the Charter, and the government failed to remedy the situation and support the residents after the private company providing electricity halted their service in 2020.
As Spain failed to follow the Committee’s 2022 order to immediately restore the power supply prior to their final decision, it is unclear whether Spain will enforce the final decision. So far, no competent authority has announced the implementation of any measures or the initiation of any process aimed at restoring power supply in the neighborhood. When questioned about the enforcement of the decision in the Madrid regional parliament, members of the regional government have merely referred to the relocation of residents and have denied that the decision has any binding effect.
The civic organization Plataforma Cívica Luz para la Cañada Real held a demonstration on April 6, 2025, in opposition of the Spanish government’s continued interministerial meetings on rehousing plans, calling the actions forced evictions and stating that the relocations are contrary to the ruling of the Committee. It is unclear whether the plans being met about currently are different in comparison to the seven-to-fourteen-year-long rehousing plan disapproved of by the Committee in the case. The organizations involved in both the complaint and calling attention to the issue continue their commitments to ensure that Spain complies with the Committee’s ruling and reinstates the electricity expeditiously.
The decision is groundbreaking in international human rights law terms due to its in-depth engagement with the relationship between human rights and access to energy. While there have been calls by various international committees and United Nations bodies to uplift the need for adequate energy as a right, the explicit connections that the European Committee of Social Rights was able to draw between energy and its crucial role in realizing collection of other social rights, not simply adequate housing, is powerful. There is only one previous decision by the Committee that condemned a State for a greater number of violations of the European Social Charter than those committed by Spain in this case.
This is also the first time a human rights body has declared that the people in Cañada Real have had their rights infringed in the four years since the power outages began. There has finally been acknowledgment by a governing body that there are means to remedy the situation in a practical manner with actionable steps, and that the government has the obligation to supply electricity, rather than allowing the responsibility to fall on private companies.
The reasoning used in this decision can help future groups and communities hold other States accountable to revitalize energy poor areas. The conceptual importance of adequate energy and State responsibility, alongside the means with which to realize those findings, will strengthen a foundation in international law supporting calls upon States to create and prioritize systems of sustainable energy for their communities.
