Spain is Raising the Bar for Data Centers

Spain is preparing to implement much stricter rules for data centers, focusing on water, energy, and cybersecurity. As the country faces a massive surge in AI infrastructure projects, the government is ready to publish a draft decree later this week that sets some very high hurdles. If you want to play in the Spanish market, the message is clear: you’re going to have to prove you’re both sustainable and sovereign.

Under these new rules, operators will need to be established within the EU, and any data or metadata handled by their facilities must remain within the region. There are also tighter controls on access from third countries, with even tougher requirements for facilities handling public sector or national security data. On the environmental side, water and energy efficiency requirements must meet the highest levels proposed under the EU’s sustainability labels. Here’s the kicker: renewable energy sources will have to account for at least 80% of a facility’s energy supply during every single hour of operation.

But it doesn't stop there. For every new megawatt of power consumed, the operator has to match it with a new megawatt of renewable generation installed within the previous 18 months. This can be through long-term contracts or locally installed renewable facilities. If you fail to meet these requirements? You could face sanctions, including losing your right to connect to the power grid entirely. These rules apply to AI facilities requiring more than 1 megawatt of capacity that aren't yet connected. Projects already in the permitting process will have six months to comply or give up their connection rights.

Spain has already attracted billions of euros in investment from major cloud and tech players, but the government feels the volume of upcoming projects gives them the scope to be picky. Across the bloc, the European Commission is making a major push for digital sovereignty—including a new Cloud and AI Development Act unveiled in June—aiming to triple the region’s data center capacity in the next five to seven years. However, with all this activity, AI infrastructure is finally facing the governmental scrutiny many expected regarding power and water consumption.