The Town Hall in Ascó, Tarragona, voted by seven to two, to accept a nuclear waste cemetery in the municipality. The town is already home to a nuclear power station, and its acceptance comes despite voiced opposition by the Catalan regional government to any cemetery being located in their region.

Opposition has also been expressed by ecologists and some local residents.

As it is the Mayor, Rafael Vidal, and three more councillors have to give explanations as to their vote in favour to the CiU Catalan party, just as the PP councillors in the village of Yebra in Guadalajara have to do after they also defied the party whip by voting for the cemetery, and the promised investment of about 12 million € a year which go with it. There are claims that the Mayor of Ascó and the three CIU councillors have links to the nuclear power industry.Opposition has also been expressed by ecologists and some local residents.Opposition has also been expressed by ecologists and some local residents.

Once all the candidate municipalities have expressed their interest, the one chosen will be home to 3,569 tons of radioactive waste. The idea is to follow the Dutch model and build a high security building, capable of withstanding the impact of a military jet or 450km/hour winds, to store the waste, and with a useful life of some 60 years.

Currently some waste is stored under far less secure conditions at power stations across the country, but ecologists are also concerns about possible accidents during transport to any new central facility.

Spain is also currently sending low level waste to France at a cost of 60,000 € a day.

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