Together, Riu’s 27 Spanish hotels consume around 70 gigawatt hours per year. The new deal will allow the chain to power more than 11,000 guest rooms with green energy, preventing 30,000 tonnes of carbon emissions – the equivalent of planting approximately 300,000 trees.

The hotel chain is currently working with Iberdrola to roll out renewable energy across its hotels in Europe and Mexico, with preliminary contracts already in place.

RIU Hotels’ chief procurement officer, Bartolome Ensenat, said: “[This is] a big step forward in our aim to make our operations sustainable. We are very proud to announce to our customers and colleagues that, from today, all the energy we use in Spain is 100% renewable, as certified by the Spanish National Markets and Competition Commission."

Ensenat added: “Iberdrola was the perfect partner to help us reach this goal and we hope that this is just the beginning, as we’ve set our sights high when it comes to sustainability."

The agreement to power its hotels with sustainable energy is the first major project for RIU’s new energy purchasing department, which is committed to reducing CO2 emissions.

The hotel chain is also implementing sustainable waste management and reuse processes, as well as reducing paper use, pursuing sustainability certifications and aiming to have a positive impact on local economies.