Last year, with the issuing of the new Climate Change Law in the Official State Gazette, a commitment was made to issue a detailed map of recharging points throughout Spain.

The Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) is one of the main bodies involved in the process, as are the energy secretariats.

The issue on the table today is that the agencies will not be able to meet the stipulated deadlines.

In this sense, Sara Aagesen, Secretary of State for Energy, states: «The best expected result is that before the summer we can have this charging infrastructure map published and accessible to all consumers».

This official census of available plugs for electric vehicles was a commitment made when the new regulation was published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) on 21 May 2021.

It stipulates in article 15.1 that «the Government shall make available to the public information on electric charging points for publicly accessible vehicles within one year of the entry into force of this law».

This article assumes that it should be published in less than a month, but according to the announcements this will not be the case.

It is opportune to highlight the fact that it will be published on the path the country is facing to achieve the 100,000 public access sockets. These are currently in the order of 13,500.

One of the facts already known about the mapping is that it will be accessible through the National Access Point for real-time traffic information managed by the autonomous body of the Central Traffic Headquarters.

The official’s statements were made at the event «The Energy Transition in Spain: maximising opportunities», organised by the Club Diálogos para la Democracia (Dialogues for Democracy Club).

The problem of inequality

The automotive sector hopes that this map will show the inequality that exists between Autonomous Communities in terms of the number of recharging points.

The statistics published by the Spanish Association of Car and Truck Manufacturers (ANFAC) show the unequal situation in Spain.

In first place is Catalonia, which has 3,549 charging points, accounting for 26.4% of the total number of plugs in the country.

The Valencian Community is second, with a total of 1,661 charging points, accounting for 12.3% of those installed in total.

In third place is Madrid, with 1,601 plugs and 11.9% of the country’s charging points.

In fourth place is Andalusia, the last region with more than 1,000 chargers.

These four regions account for 60.4% of the total number of chargers. The remaining 39.6% is divided between 15 Autonomous Communities.

The Balearic Islands have 888 plugs, while Castile and Leon has 737, one of the fastest growing regions in terms of number of plugs. The Canary Islands have 728, the Basque Country 547, Galicia 454, Aragon 389 and Murcia 338.