The works on the future Social Security Data Processing Center in Soria have reached 82% completion and are now entering the final stage. Located in the Los Royales neighborhood, this infrastructure is set to become one of the key components of the government’s technology decentralization plan, with the ongoing transfer of the current data center from Madrid to the Soria capital.
The project, awarded in 2023 to the joint venture formed by Grupo Cobra and ITERCON, has a base tender budget of €88.47 million, including taxes, funded by European funds linked to the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan. According to the Government’s written response to Senator José Manuel Hernando, work is currently focused on the complex’s urbanization, internal roads, façade, and roof.
A Public Data Center to Modernize Social Security
The new Data Processing Center (DPC) will significantly upgrade Social Security’s technological infrastructure, which currently operates from facilities located in Madrid. This center, housed in a building from the 1970s, includes a technical room of approximately 600 square meters and supports critical operations for millions of citizens.
According to available data, the current center can hold 3,000 physical servers and handles around 15 million transactions daily. These operations include exchanging about 200,000 documents and conducting roughly 4,000 VoIP calls each day. This scale highlights why the Soria project is more than just another public work; it is a vital infrastructure for administrative services reliant on availability, security, and operational continuity.
| Main Data | Details |
|---|---|
| Current project completion | 82% |
| Base tender budget | €88.47 million |
| Amendment 1 | €211,070 |
| Amendment 2 | €2.97 million |
| Planned floors | 3 floors |
| Parking spaces | 117 |
| Estimated employment | 60 jobs |
| Current daily transactions | 15 million |
| Documents exchanged daily | 200,000 |
| Daily VoIP calls | 4,000 |
The project has undergone two financial amendments. The first amounts to €211,070 and the second to €2.97 million. The initial deadline was 24 months, but the schedule has already been extended beyond that period.
The complex will feature three floors, a basement, and 117 parking spaces. It is expected to generate about 60 jobs, a significant number for a province that has been advocating for public investments capable of creating stable and skilled activity for years.
Why Soria Was Chosen for the New DPC
The location of the center is not solely driven by territorial decentralization logic. Soria offers particularly favorable conditions for such a facility due to its climate and energy availability. The province has an average annual temperature of around 11°C, enabling the use of outside air cooling systems, known as free cooling.
In data centers, cooling can represent a very high proportion of operational costs. For the current Social Security center in Madrid, cooling costs in summer reach about €150,000 per month, accounting for roughly 70% of maintenance expenses, as reported by El Mirón de Soria.
A suitability study endorsed by the Center for Renewable Energy Development (CEDER-CIEMAT) estimates that economic and thermal savings in Soria could be between 50% and 60%. This data underpins the interest in relocating critical infrastructure to a province with cold winters, lower thermal stress in summer, and better conditions to reduce cooling-related energy consumption.
| Soria Factor | Benefit for a DPC |
| Average annual temperature of 11ºC | Facilitates outside air cooling |
| Potential thermal savings | Between 50% and 60% |
| Availability of renewable energy | Improves the center’s energy profile |
| Lower urban pressure | Supports the deployment of public infrastructure |
| Decentralization | Distributes technological services outside Madrid |
Soria also stands out for its renewable energy availability. According to the project data, the province produces more energy than it consumes, utilizing only a fraction of its renewable generation. For a public data center, this combination of a cold climate and renewable energy enhances efficiency and helps reduce operational costs.
Technological Decentralization and Public Services
The transfer of the data center from Madrid to Soria is part of the Public Infrastructure Relocation Plan. The goal is to distribute certain state capabilities outside major administrative centers and bring technological investments to areas with lower economic density.
This decentralization does not diminish significance; quite the opposite. A Social Security DPC must operate with high levels of security, availability, and resilience. It hosts systems that support procedures, benefits, document management, communications, and daily administrative processes.
For Soria, the infrastructure can hold both symbolic and practical value. Symbolic because it places the province on the map of public digital services. Practical because it introduces technical employment, maintenance activities, auxiliary services, and potential talent attraction related to e-government, networks, systems, and cybersecurity.
This decision aligns with a broader trend in both the public and private sectors: locating infrastructure where energy costs, cooling, and land availability facilitate more efficient data center operations. Not all DPCs need to be in large capitals if they have connectivity, energy, physical security, and remote operation capacity.
A Critical Infrastructure in a Time of Growing Digital Demand
The progress of this project comes at a time when data centers have gained a more prominent role in economic planning. The digitization of public services, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, document management, and cybersecurity require modern, efficient, and scalable infrastructure.
For Social Security, technological renewal has an additional dimension: it is a public service managing sensitive information and essential processes for citizens, companies, and administrations. The availability of its systems is not just an IT issue but a condition for smooth operation of benefits, contributions, procedures, and communications.
The new Soria DPC will modernize an existing installation that, according to available information, needed to adapt to current demands. The age of the Madrid building, cooling costs, and increasing demand justify infrastructure designed from the outset for efficiency, continuity, and scalability.
While some work remains and the schedule has exceeded initial projections, reaching 82% completion places the project in its critical phase. When operational, Soria will have not only secured a significant public investment but also become the site of an essential technological infrastructure for daily Social Security functions.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the new Social Security DPC in Soria?
It is a Data Processing Center housing IT infrastructure for the Social Security IT Management and will enable the transfer of part of the current data center located in Madrid.
How much does the project cost?
The base tender budget is €88.47 million, funded with European Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan funds.
Why was Soria chosen?
Due to its climate, which allows cooling savings through free cooling, and its renewable energy availability. Estimated thermal savings could reach between 50% and 60%.
How many jobs will it generate?
The published forecast indicates around 60 positions associated with the new center.
