Microsoft plans to pour €6.69bn into new Spanish data centres

The reported investment plans follows a similar move by AWS, while Microsoft has announced various data centre investments around the world recently.

Microsoft is continuing to expand its data infrastructure empire, as the tech giant is reportedly planning to invest billions into new data centres in the Spanish region of Aragon.

Reuters reports that Aragon’s regional government said Microsoft has applied for a construction permit to build data centres near the city of Zaragoza. The investment is expected to be worth €6.69bn and will be spread out over 10 years – though Microsoft declined to comment on these plans.

These plans follow Microsoft’s announcement that it will invest $2.1bn in Spain over the next two years to expand its AI and cloud infrastructure in the country. That deal also included cooperation between Spain and Microsoft on strengthening cybersecurity and AI in public administration.

This new investment into Aragon may be motivated by competition, as it follows a similar announcement by Amazon Web Services (AWS) last month. AWS said it will invest €15.7bn into Spain and that it will expand its cloud infrastructure in the Aragon region.

A focus on cloud and AI

Microsoft has been focusing on expanding its cloud and AI infrastructure recently – two key sectors for the tech giant. In February, Microsoft said it would spend €3.2bn over the next two years to double its cloud and AI infrastructure in Germany.

Towards the end of 2023, Microsoft also made its largest-ever investment in the UK after committing £2.5bn over the next three years to expand its AI data centre footprint and foster research in the technology.

The focus on AI infrastructure is unsurprising, as it has paid off substantially for the company. Microsoft was an early adopter of generative AI thanks to its investments with OpenAI and soared to the $3trn valuation milestone at the start of 2024. It is currently the most valuable company in the world, with Apple recently climbing back to second place after being pushed down by Nvidia.

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