Spain aims to compete in Europe’s “first division” of Artificial Intelligence infrastructure. The government announced that Madrid will join Catalonia in Spain’s bid to host one of the future European AI gigafactories: large-scale facilities designed to train and deploy next-generation models with massive computational, energy, and network needs. Minister for Digital Transformation and Public Function, Óscar López, made the announcement during the Spain Investors Day forum held in Madrid, delivering a clear political message: expanding territorial participation to strengthen a national proposal with industrial and technological ambitions.
The Spanish bid will be supported by two locations: the already designated Móra la Nova (Tarragona) and a second site in San Fernando de Henares (Madrid). The government envisions the project as driven by a public-private consortium, which includes the Spanish Society for Technological Transformation (SETT), a public entity created to catalyze strategic investments in areas such as semiconductors, connectivity, and AI itself.
What is an “AI gigafactory” and why does Brussels want them
The term “gigafactory” is not just a slogan: it refers to industrial-scale computational capacity. According to the European approach, these infrastructures are designed to concentrate more than 100,000 advanced AI processors, with clear priorities: energy access, reliable supply chains, high-performance networks, efficiency, and automation. The government’s timeline estimates the potential start-up between 2027 and 2028, in line with the EU’s goal to select multiple sites across member states.
Meanwhile, Brussels is also trying to accelerate an infrastructure strategy to reduce Europe’s dependency and boost its AI capabilities. In this context, InvestAI emerges—a initiative announced by Ursula von der Leyen aimed at mobilizing up to €200 billion to support the European AI ecosystem, including large “factories” for AI computation.
Money, land, and electricity: the triangle that will decide the race
The minister argued that public-private investment “could exceed” €4 billion, illustrating the scale of the project: this is not just another data center, but a strategic infrastructure with industrial, regulatory, and energy implications. As in any capacity race, the bottleneck isn’t only funding: it’s power availability, permits, water, and social acceptance in the locations where projects are built.
The decision to include Madrid aims to strengthen the bid with a “dual” approach, combining land, connectivity, and the business ecosystem. Catalonia has long positioned Tarragona as an industrial and logistics hub for energy and tech projects, while Madrid hosts much of the country’s digital fabric, corporate demand, and connectivity nodes. The underlying message is that in AI, geography matters… but so does the ability to coordinate permits, operators, energy, and funding within tight timelines.
Quick overview: how the Spanish bid is shaping up
| Key Element | What Spain Proposes | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Bid Model | Dual locations (Catalonia + Madrid) | Enhances regional capacity, talent, and connectivity |
| Locations | Móra la Nova (Tarragona) + San Fernando de Henares (Madrid) | Provides logistical redundancy and ecosystem strength |
| Funding | Public-private consortium including SETT | Enables capital mobilization and investment acceleration |
| Economic Scale | Over €4 billion (estimate) | Industrial scale: energy, civil works, network, hardware |
| Technical Requirements | >100,000 AI processors, focus on energy/network/efficiency | Sets the real benchmark for a gigafactory |
| Timeline | Operational between 2027 and 2028 (target) | Defines permit, supply, and construction pace |
What’s at stake: digital sovereignty and “national capacity”
Beyond the headline, the bid has two interpretations. The first is economic: attracting a gigafactory means investment, skilled jobs, and a magnet for suppliers (energy, cooling, telecom, construction, security, maintenance…). The second is strategic: hosting infrastructure for training and deploying advanced models influences technological autonomy, innovation capacity, and industrial competitiveness.
Europe—and Spain within that framework—may arrive late to some stages of the global race, but attempts to compensate through public-private coordination, regulation, and funding. The question isn’t only whether Spain will “win” a gigafactory; it’s whether it can demonstrate, in time, that it has what these investments truly require: available energy, realistic timelines, legal security, world-class connectivity, and a ready supply chain.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the difference between an “AI factory” and an “AI gigafactory”?
The gigafactory is a scale leap: more computing power, better energy and network integration, and capacity to train next-generation models with massive requirements.
Where would the Spanish gigafactory be located if Spain is selected?
The announced bid includes two sites: Móra la Nova (Tarragona) and San Fernando de Henares (Madrid).
How much investment is estimated for the project?
The government has said that public-private combined investment could surpass €4 billion.
When are the European AI gigafactories expected to be operational?
The public planning horizon points to 2027–2028, aligned with the selection of several installations in the EU and their subsequent deployment.