The Emirati group Damac has chosen Madrid as the location for its first data center in Europe, consolidating its commitment to technological infrastructure on the continent. The real estate development company, based in Dubai, has acquired a plot of 23,000 square meters about fifteen kilometers from the center of Madrid, in an area considered key for the growth of data centers outside of the well-known cities in the FLAPD region (Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Dublin).
The planned investment for this project exceeds 400 million euros, reflecting the group’s interest in actively participating in the growing European technology market. Damac’s founder, Hussain Sajwani, emphasized that this acquisition will help balance the supply and demand of data centers in Madrid and enable the development of innovative technologies in the region. According to Sajwani, this investment is also part of the group’s strategy to boost digital infrastructure and Artificial Intelligence, key elements in its diversified portfolio.
The land was acquired from ASG Iberia, the Spanish subsidiary of the investment group ActivumSG, as part of a strategy to develop land with secure electrical connections, known as “powered land.” In this case, an agreement has been reached for 40 megawatts (MW) with the local power supplier, guaranteeing 10 MW of immediate supply and another 30 MW for the first quarter of 2026.
Brian Betel, head of direct real estate investment at ActivumSG, highlighted that the electricity supply agreement, along with energy redundancy, positions this project prominently in a local market already facing serious energy limitations.
This project is part of a broader context of growth in demand for data centers in Europe. It is expected that the capacity of these centers on the continent will reach 13,100 MW by 2027, according to Savills data, with 94 new projects scheduled for the coming years. In line with this trend, it was recently announced that Blackstone will invest 7,500 million euros in a data center in Aragon, reinforcing the importance of Spain as a competitive player in the sector.
The sale of the land to Damac is the second major operation of ASG Iberia this year, after completing a similar sale in July in the Madrid municipality of Meco, where they sold a plot of 17,651 square meters to the data center developer Pure DC for 11 million euros.
via: EjePrime