Last countdown

It's cold. A lot. Some would say today, 19 January, is a normal day in Andorra (Teruel), but this fog and these winds smell of change. 

Twenty of Endesa's technicians, who have visited the area set up to monitor the latest blasting work on a slender element of the Andorra thermal power plant, do not seem to be concerned about this. They're focused, because today is an important day, it's the last countdown. 

There is little left of the coal-fired power plant; its dismantling work is running like clockwork, with a 95% completion progress. Once again, Teruel's skyline is going to change. The process has taken a long time to prepare, using 620 kg of explosives and 340 detonators on the last furnace, which was 70 metres high and had a surface area of 780 square metres. Despite the structure's huge dimensions, we cannot see it today because of the fog. Only half an hour away to start the demolition process and the wind is starting to blow.

Luigi, Beatriz, Ignacio and José Luis look at each other. They are the ones supervising what will happen here today and they can't stop looking at the skyline. The appointed time is almost here, the wind has allowed the fog to start to clear up and is starting to show the outline of the last furnace standing.

When Luigi looks at the clock and picks up the walkie-talkie, the most absolute and respectful silence is created. Beatriz, Ignacio and Jose Luis looked at each other and at the team members, giving a hint of a smile, and congratulating each other for the effort made so far.

5-4-3-2-1-0 Everyone holds their breath for those five seconds. First, a rumble, followed a few thousandths of a second later by the furnace giving way to the blasts, bending down, almost on its knees, almost like greeting everyone there, giving a silent farewell to the time it has been operating and now making way for a greener future.

Everyone there embraced the moment with a hug, a unique moment of gratitude and satisfaction that did not last for long, because they were all thinking about the next steps, about how to recycle and recover the 10,000 tons of waste generated by the demolition works, about what is yet to be done to return Andorra's skyline back to normal and make way for the colleagues who are already working on the future of the area.

It's still cold, change has come, it started snowing.