March 25, 2025

What’s Fueling Spain’s Data Center Growth—and Will It Last?

47 minutes

In this episode, host Reese Tisdale is joined by Bluefield colleagues Keith Hays and Chloé Meyer to unpack the rapid expansion of data centers in Spain and the growing challenges related to water and energy management. With Aragon alone seeing over €33 billion in announced investment, this conversation explores the trade-offs between hyperscale growth, resource constraints, and local response.

Key Topics Covered:

Why dig into this topic now?

Driven by AI, global data consumption is accelerating and Spain is emerging as a major data center hub. Developers are now facing growing pressure to balance growth with limited resources like land, energy, and water.

What makes Spain an attractive market for data centers?

Spain offers lower energy and land costs, fast-track approvals, and strategic geographic positioning compared to more constrained FLAP-D markets.

How are companies addressing growing concerns around water use?

Developers are taking different approaches: Meta is revising its cooling strategies with air and dry-cooling to reduce water use, while AWS is investing in leak detection, offset projects, and local water infrastructure.

How are local communities responding to exponential data center growth?

While regions like Aragon are expanding rapidly, others like Lleida are pushing back over water use and long-term economic benefits.

How will AI-driven growth shape future water and energy demands?

AI workloads are accelerating data center demand, leading to higher energy density and cooling needs.

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By Reese Tisdale

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