On Wednesday, the Congress of Spain approved the establishment of two investigative committees concerning the power outage that affected the entire country and the Iberian Peninsula on April 28, 2023. This decision follows a month of discussions surrounding the crisis, which plunged the nation into complete energy distress.

Both committees will be formed simultaneously and are likely to share members, a similar work agenda, and witness testimonies, although each has distinct objectives.

The initiative put forth by the Popular Party (PP) garnered the most support, with 180 votes in favor, including backing from Vox, UPN, Junts, and Podemos.

This committee aims to attribute responsibility for the blackout primarily to the government led by Pedro Sánchez.

Conversely, the committee proposed by the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and Sumar received 175 affirmative votes, seeking to identify the underlying causes of the blackout and propose solutions to prevent future issues.

The Canary Coalition abstained from voting on both proposals.

The discussions preceding the approval highlighted the lack of clarity regarding the causes of the nationwide blackout, with the intentions of both proposals appearing similar yet fundamentally different.

Presently, in addition to these two proposed committees, there are three already active investigative committees within Congress addressing other issues, with the most recent focusing on a weather event still pending definition of its activities and testimonies.

A separate investigation related to the blackout has also been initiated in the Senate, which is under the control of the PP.

The political maneuvering surrounding these investigative committees has raised concerns about their utility, reflecting how major parties often utilize parliamentary instruments to further their political interests.

This situation was evidenced on Wednesday when both investigative committee proposals were allowed to advance to discussion, voting, and approval in the plenary session of Congress, despite their fundamentally different aims.

Guillermo Mariscal, the PP spokesperson, criticized the government for lacking credibility and accountability regarding the blackout.

He asserted that the government’s incompetence has contributed to increased insecurity and distrust among citizens.

Mariscal indicated that his party will call for former Third Vice President Teresa Ribera and current Red Eléctrica head, former socialist minister Beatriz Corredor, to testify before his committee.

He characterized the incident as indicative of broader governmental dysfunction, rather than a mere technical error.

Cristina Narbona, president of the PSOE and former minister, noted the unprecedented nature of having to discuss and vote on two commissions for 'the same event,' potentially featuring identical witnesses.

The PSOE plans to nominate the same spokespersons for both committees and summon the same witnesses.

Narbona remarked that if the PP's true intention is preemptively to assign blame to the Sánchez government, they have adequate avenues to pursue their testimony in the Senate, which they control.

During the debate, Narbona emphasized the need for a serious and rigorous discussion regarding such a major issue.

She predicted repeated attempts by the PP in the new commission to blend unrelated issues and accusations against the government, arguing that the PSOE would approach the matter with an open mind, unlike the PP's predetermined conclusions.

Several political groups echoed Narbona's sentiments, critiquing the PP for pre-established narratives surrounding the energy crisis.

Eloi Badia, spokesperson for Sumar, took the opportunity to criticize not only the blackout but also to draw attention to ongoing humanitarian issues in Gaza.

Meanwhile, representatives from Sumar, BNG, PNV, and ERC condemned the PP’s alarmist exaggerations regarding the energy crisis.

Martina Velarde from Podemos criticized the approach of all parties for possibly overlooking major players in the energy sector responsible for the crisis.

Pilar Calvo from Junts expressed support for both committees while lamenting the government’s lack of timely and comprehensive information following the blackout.

The establishment of these two committees is pending the selection of leadership to facilitate their operations, including defining their agendas and scheduling their sessions.

The majority of the discussions on the proposals occurred in a nearly empty hemicycle.