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SearchCarbon Storage Caspe has requested permission to study nearly 17,900 hectares across four municipalities in Zaragoza province. The announcement opens a two-month period for proposals and objections, but does not authorize CO₂ storage.
Carbon Storage Caspe, S.L.’s application to investigate the subsoil of Bajo Aragón-Caspe has entered a new administrative phase. On October 1, 2026, the Official Gazette of Aragón (BOA) published the announcement of the permit known as “Caspe Mayals,” covering an area of 17,876.6545 hectares in the municipal areas of Caspe, Fabara, Maella and Nonaspe.
The company submitted its application on May 19, 2026, and amended it in August following an administrative request. The publication now opens the period provided for the applicant to submit improvements, other companies to make competing offers, and anyone who considers their rights to be affected to file objections.
The current proceedings concern an application for an exploration permit. If granted, it would allow studies to establish whether the area’s geological formations could hold CO₂ and under what conditions. It does not authorize the construction of facilities or the injection or storage of the gas.
This distinction matters to companies, public authorities and local communities: any storage project would require a subsequent, separate procedure and the corresponding authorizations. According to information published by La Comarca, the autonomous community is processing the exploration permit because the entire area requested lies within Aragón; any future concession to store CO₂ would be subject to a different procedure under the authority of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge. The application therefore does not guarantee that the project will be developed.
The regulations set a maximum period of one year in which to decide on the exploration permit. If there are several offers, the decision does not depend solely on the financial proposal: the criteria considered include investment, speed of execution and the project’s technical suitability.
The investigation would have to determine the characteristics of the rocks and their storage capacity, as well as analyze aquifers, faults, fractures and possible leakage pathways. Other aspects that would also need to be assessed include the pressure of the formations, seismicity and how CO₂ behaves when in contact with the rocks. These are matters requiring study; mentioning them does not establish that there is any specific harm or risk in the area.
The area had already been identified by the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain as a formation with potential for geological storage in the Ebro Basin. La Comarca notes the interest of the Buntsandstein sandstones, but the existence of potentially suitable geological formations does not confirm that the site is suitable or establish that it has effective storage capacity.
According to the published information, the requested area is about 600 metres from the centre of Fabara, 1.3 kilometres south of Maella, 2.6 kilometres west of Caspe and 5.5 kilometres east of Nonaspe. These distances locate the area in relation to the urban centres, but on their own they do not support conclusions about impacts or safety.
The announcement has prompted political criticism. The PSOE in Caspe says the affected municipal councils were not informed before publication in the BOA. The Socialist group in the Cortes of Aragón has requested explanations about the proceedings, deadlines, safety protocols and environmental safeguards.
Abraham Martínez, spokesperson for the Socialist Municipal Group, called for clarification of the possible risks to the environment, aquifers and population, and raised induced seismicity and the protection of groundwater as issues to examine. These are concerns and requests for information attributed to the party, not findings of adverse effects. The technical assessment and subsequent procedures would determine which risks are relevant and what measures would be required.
For organizations and companies following the case, the open phase provides a formal opportunity to submit proposals or objections within the two-month period. Publication in the BOA marks the start of that period, but the decision on the permit and, later, any decision on storage will depend on separate procedures and assessments.
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