From the very beginning, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has been a diehard supporter of renewable energy such as wind and solar power and an opponent of the nuclear alternative. Under the stewardship of Spain’s greener than green socialist prime minister, the country has become one of Europe’s leading producers of electricity from wind farms along with Germany and Denmark. These days, wind power accounts for about 15 per cent of Spanish electricity consumption.

Mr Zapatero has also said he planned to shut down eight existing nuclear reactors when they reached the end of their natural life. He is about to have his first opportunity to confirm his anti-nuclear convictions with the country’s oldest nuclear plant of Garona in northern Spain coming to the end of its 40-year lifespan.