Thousands march in Zaragoza against Aragon's data center boom

Resources, jobs and transparency

Critics point to Aragon's Projects of General Interest, which they say offer tax exemptions, expropriations and fast-track procedures. Former Zaragoza mayor Pedro Santisteve counts 34 planned data centers in the region. Pedro Arrojo, professor emeritus at the University of Zaragoza and UN rapporteur on water, does not call for a ban but for transparency and regulation. He warns that in drought years it is unclear who will get priority, and that grid upgrades could end up on household bills while the companies keep what he called very low contracted prices.

On jobs, the groups say more than 1,000 were announced, but excluding construction, operating centers employ barely 200 people. Weeks ago, a dispute arose in El Burgo de Ebro and Villanueva de Gállego when the business activity tax appeared to be heading to Madrid; Amazon later clarified that taxation would stay locally.

The numbers behind the protest

The International Energy Agency estimates in its Energy and AI report that data center electricity demand will double to 945 TWh by 2030, more than Japan's current consumption. According to the Catalan outlet Ara, if every announced project went ahead, Aragon's consumption would rise from 10,000 to over 55,000 GWh a year. A University of California study argues that AI's water footprint is significant and opaque.

The protest comes weeks before Spain's general elections and while a royal decree on data centers is pending. The August draft required newly built renewable energy and top energy and water efficiency, but under industry pressure it has softened: the threshold rose from 1 MW to 10 MW, and operators that cannot meet the 80% renewable target get up to five years to comply.