I agree up to some extend, the people complaining are very well aware of the economic opportunities that the mine can bring to the region and they judge that it is too low risk/reward. Let's be clear, the big prize in economic development around batteries are the battery megafactories, not the Lithium extraction. Those factories are most likely going to be build in the North of the country (Catalonia, Basque Country) where the car manufacturers are. So again, a single mine project is not bringing much development long term for them and it can ruin the local environment which is an important source of revenue.
I'm answering both your questions in one go, because they are related. From all the protestors there are really two different groups, ecologist or environmentalists that do not want the mine at all and never will, and a second group that feel that a single mine is just not enough to justify the environmental risks. You add there that the megafactories are set to be built in 2 regions that are somewhat in disarray with the rest of Spain (so there is some political tension too) and the eternal fight between urban vs rural.
The people in Extremadura feel like they are being left only with the dirty part of the business while other regions reap the good rewards. This second group could be persuaded if a good enough offer to develop the region was made. However, this does not depend on Inifinity anymore, you depend on Spanish politicians... and trust me, you don't want to be on that position. Furthermore, the car manufacturers want their supply chain as close as possible to their manufacturing sites, so the chances that the region of Caceres can receive a good offer in terms of development is quite low in my opinion. It is not worth it for just 15kt/y to move battery production there, specially because we are seeing that most battery manufacturers are opting for giant factories to save cost which makes centralization even more important.
I bought Infinity a few months ago, I think the project is solid and I was also pumped by all the energy transition to EV and lithium batteries and what not. However after working as Environmental Engineer for a mining company in Europe I can tell you that just a small and well organized group of people can delay almost forever the opening of a new mine. The system in the EU is made so that all parties are encouraged to be aligned and there are so many ways of delaying the permitting that this could go on for years. So I see now Spanish politicians against this project at all levels (not only locals) and I decided that the risk of this project of not being executed are quite high, so I am waiting for a small price pump to sell, probably this week or next week.
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