Alcalá de Henares, epicenter of the new 'colonization' by data centers

• Alcalá de Henares, 30km east of Madrid, has become a hub for rapid data center expansion.
• Rising AI workloads have driven rack power density from 1kW in the 90s to up to 120kW today, drastically increasing electricity and water consumption.
• While local officials cite job creation as a benefit, activists and environmental groups argue the economic return is minimal and transparency is lacking.

Infrastructure and Technical Shifts

• As of late 2025, commercial data centers in Spain reached 439MW of installed capacity, with 204MW concentrated across 35 facilities in the Madrid region.
• Major projects include the 50MW Nabiax facility serving Telefónica and an upcoming Microsoft data center campus in the Las Matillas industrial estate.
• Regional government has recently commissioned three new electrical substations in the Henares Corridor to support industrial growth.

Environmental and Social Concerns

• Water Scarcity: High cooling requirements place stress on local water supplies, particularly in already water-stressed regions.
• Grid Stability: The National Commission on Markets and Competition has warned that high concentrations of energy-intensive data centers can cause voltage instability and infrastructure bottlenecks.
• Energy Impacts: Critics argue that linking data centers to massive 50-hectare solar farms (macro-plants) is "greenwashing," as these facilities consume vast land areas and contribute to rising household electricity prices.
• Transparency: Citizen groups, such as Tu nube seca mi río, highlight that companies remain opaque about resource usage, making it difficult for the public to monitor their environmental footprint.

Differing Perspectives

• Local Government: Views the influx of data centers as validation of Alcalá as an attractive, well-connected site for investment in the digital economy.
• Civil Society: Claims that promises of high employment are inaccurate—stating that large centers often employ only a few dozen people—and cautions that these facilities concentrate power, reduce democratic oversight, and damage the local environment.