The Government celebrates Amazon's commitment to Spain with a historic investment of €33.7 billion to boost data centres

Meeting between the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, and the Minister for Digital Transformation and Civil Service, Óscar López, with the Senior Vice President of Amazon Web Services, David Zapolsky

The Minister for Digital Transformation and Civil Service, Óscar López, has welcomed the announcement by Amazon Web Services (AWS) that it will invest €33.7 billion in Spain to boost data centres and artificial intelligence (AI) innovation in Europe. According to López, the action of the Executive has been key to making this new commitment of the multinational possible.

"The Government of Spain welcomes and supports the spectacular announcement made by AWS in our country. Our negotiations to expand its business in Aragon, while committing to local development, have paid off. Its enormous impact should act as an engine that drives other direct and indirect projects in the area", he said in a dialogue with Amazon's global director of legal and corporate affairs, David Zapolsky, at the Mobile World Congress being held in Barcelona.

With this commitment, the company aims to expand and strengthen its data centre infrastructure, providing advanced AI and cloud computing capabilities to organisations across Europe. This is the multinational's largest investment in our country, adding €18 billion to the €15.7 billion already confirmed for 2024.

"The path to progress lies in the partnership between the entrepreneurial state and large, committed companies like AWS. However, all this investment cannot be limited to a single business. We do not want digital bubbles, we want digital oceans. We believe in the redistribution of technological wealth throughout the territory. That is why we are confident that this project is committed to the socio-economic growth of the Aragon region", Óscar López emphasised.

The Minister for Digital Transformation and Civil Service, Óscar López, in the dialogue he has led together with the global director of legal and corporate affairs of Amazon, David Zapolsky

It is estimated that the total planned investment in our country by AWS, located in Aragon, will generate an average of 29,900 jobs a year in local companies, including direct, indirect and induced jobs. Of the total, 6,700 will be full-time jobs linked to highly skilled data centre operations professionals and AWS vendor employees, facility construction workers and data centre security personnel, among others.

The technology company also plans to build supply chain facilities in Aragon that will support its data centre operations across Spain and Europe. When fully operational, these facilities are expected to create approximately 1,800 jobs in the region.

"The Government of Spain is ensuring that AWS presents a sustainable development proposal that goes beyond the simple installation of data centres. I expect AWS to actively participate in social and territorial cohesion, promoting talent, supporting research centres and collaborating with public universities," the minister added.

Amazon's investment in Spain

Since its arrival in Spain in 2011, Amazon has invested more than €20 billion in our country in retail operations, logistics networks, cloud infrastructure and AI, community development and innovation programmes for customers and companies, as well as in salaries for its employees.

Amazon's commitment to operating data centres in Spain began with the launch of the AWS Europe (Spain) Region in Aragon in 2022.

With this expansion, Amazon becomes the first technology company to announce plans to build data centres in the province of Teruel, in addition to new facilities in Huesca and Zaragoza, bringing advanced cloud infrastructure to all three Aragonese provinces, as well as generating employment and business opportunities throughout the region.

Non official translation