• At the inauguration, the company’s president, Ignacio Galán, explained that “the work of preserving our historical and artistic heritage allows us to disseminate our origins and our culture and promote quality tourism, which is key to the economic recovery of the region”.
• The project manages to enhance the volumes of the architectural ensemble, highlight its heights and depths and contribute to sustainability by improving energy efficiency by 60% and avoiding the emission of 5.3 t CO2 per year.
• Through its Foundation’s Lighting Programme, the company has worked on more than 40 monuments in Spain, including the Puente Románico de Alcántara, the Congreso de los Diputados, the Cathedral of Ávila and the New Cathedral of Salamanca.

The Royal Monastery of Santa María de Guadalupe now has new lighting, following the completion of the project developed by Iberdrola, aimed at revitalising one of the greatest architectural symbols of Extremadura – declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1993 – by enhancing and enhancing the silhouette of the Monastery and modernising its exterior ornamental lighting.

The inauguration of the new lighting of the Royal Monastery of Santa María tonight was attended by the President of Iberdrola, Ignacio Galán, accompanied by the President of the Regional Government of Extremadura, Guillermo Fernández Vara; the Minister Provincial of the Franciscan Province of the Immaculate Conception, Fr Juan Carlos Moya; and the Mayor of Guadalupe, Felipe Sánchez Barba.

In his speech, Ignacio Galán explained that “this work to conserve our historical and artistic heritage allows us to contribute to disseminating our origins and our culture and to promote quality tourism, which will be key to the economic recovery of regions such as the one in which we find ourselves”.

He also added that “promoting economic and social development is a responsibility and a commitment for us, with which we create sustainable value in all the regions in which we are present”.

The work carried out by Iberdrola over the last four months has managed to enhance the volumes of the architectural complex – with Gothic, Mudejar, Renaissance, Baroque and Neoclassical styles – and to enhance its heights and depths, after reinforcing the upper bodies of the monastery: towers, main façade with its crests and dome.

The project also contributes to sustainability, improving energy efficiency by 60% and avoiding the emission of 5.3 t CO2 per year.

The lighting combines the use of the most advanced LED technology with careful installation and control of night-time light glare. The lighting perimeter of the Monastery has also been extended with the installation of 197 floodlights.

The action is part of the Commemorative Programme for the 25th Anniversary of the declaration of the Royal Monastery as a World Heritage Site.

Committed to creating value in communities

The project is part of Iberdrola’s commitment to creating value in the communities where it operates, such as Extremadura, which has become the centre of its renewable development strategy in Spain, where it will develop 2,000 MW of renewable energy by 2022.

Following the commissioning of Europe’s largest photovoltaic plant, Núñez de Balboa, Iberdrola will in the coming months build seven renewable projects in the region, with a total capacity of 728 MW. It also has the Francisco Pizarro plant (590 MW) in the pipeline. These projects will entail an investment of more than 1.5 billion euros and the creation of thousands of jobs in the region.

In Extremadura, the company already manages a dozen energy facilities, with an installed capacity of 3,600 MW, and has more than 12,000 km of power lines, serving more than 350,000 customers.

Iberdrola is the leader in renewable energy in Spain, with an installed wind power capacity of more than 6,000 MW and more than 16,600 MW of renewable energy; a volume that in the world amounts to 32,700 MW, making its generation park one of the cleanest in the energy sector.

Iberdrola, with the promotion of art and culture

One of Iberdrola’s main areas of action, through its foundation in Spain, focuses on the care, conservation and enhancement of historical and artistic wealth. The main objective of the Lighting Programme is to develop interventions in unique buildings to install or improve their interior and/or exterior lighting systems in order to contribute to the enhancement of historical and artistic heritage.

Since 2011, the volume of investment allocated to the Lighting Programme has amounted to more than 3 million euros and has led to the improvement of more than 40 monuments in Spain, including the historic Roman Bridge of Alcántara, in Cáceres; the façade of the Congress of Deputies in Madrid; the Cathedral of Ávila, or the interior of the New Cathedral of Salamanca.

About Iberdrola

Iberdrola is a global energy leader, the world’s largest wind power producer and one of the largest electricity companies by market capitalisation in the world. The group supplies energy to close to 100 million people in dozens of countries such as Spain, the United Kingdom (ScottishPower), the United States (AVANGRID), Brazil (Neoenergia), Mexico, Germany, Portugal, Italy and France. With a workforce of more than 35,000 people and assets of more than 122 billion euros, it had a turnover of 36,438 million euros and a net profit of 3,406 million euros in 2019. Iberdrola is leading the energy transition towards a sustainable model through its investments in renewable energies, smart grids, large-scale energy storage and digital transformation to offer the most advanced products and services to its customers. Thanks to its commitment to clean energy, it is one of the companies with the lowest emissions and an international benchmark for its contribution to the fight against climate change and sustainability.