Spain paints itself as the answer to Europe’s Russian energy problem

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said his country — and southern Europe more broadly — could provide an answer to the shortfall in gas supplies from Russia as the region looks to double down on sanctions against Moscow.

“Spain and, I would say, Southern Europe, will have a chance to provide an answer to this energy dependence of Russia fossil energy,” Sanchez told CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos late Monday.

Sanchez highlighted that Spain represents 37% of the European Union’s total regasification capacity — where liquefied natural gas is turned back into the end product of natural gas. He also said the Iberian Peninsula, occupied by Spain and Portugal, is home to…