Reconstruyendo La Nopalera Project

La Nopalera

In La Nopalera—a small town in the State of Morelos, Mexico—the inhabitants are still facing the hard task of rebuilding everything that the earthquake of 19 September 2017 took from them: their church, their school and, above all, the dozens of houses that collapsed. With a population of just 800, La Nopalera is marginalised, because of both its geographical location and the lack of basic public services.

In order to improve its socio-economic conditions, the Board of the Elecnor Foundation unanimously approved a solar-powered street lighting project for the village. The aim of the project is to provide lighting to the entire village, through a smart lighting system and renewable energy, thus promoting security in urban areas and increasing the inhabitants' quality of life.

In this regard, the Elecnor Foundation and the Casa de México Foundation in Madrid signed an agreement to explore ways to collaborate on social infrastructure projects in Mexico.

In October 2019, the Reconstruyendo La Nopalera (Rebuilding La Nopalera) project was unveiled. The event was attended by representatives of different corporate foundations and NGOs, including Agustín Alonso, the Mayor of Yautepec (Morelos); Miriam Ciscar, Head of the Sectoral Cooperation Department (AECID); and Mercedes Sánchez Pedrosa, Head of the Department of Cooperation with Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean (AECID).

On 27 November 2020, the Elecnor Foundation and representatives from Yautepec and La Nopalera successfully launched the system comprising 83 state-of-the-art lights powered by solar panels, returning light to the streets of La Nopalera and helping its residents to live a normal life after nightfall and recover some of all that they lost in little under a minute when their community was struck by an earthquake on 19 September 2017.