Why all data centers are installed in Madrid

91% of all data center capacity in our country goes through Madrid, which hosts 103 MW of the 113 MW of installed power in the different data centers present in Spainaccording to data from the employers’ association Spain Data Center.

In a context of booming digital life, increased teleworking and growth of Smart Cities and IoT connections, the demand for new spaces to locate modern and sustainable data centers continues to grow.

Hence several investment groups and cloud providers have set their sights on the New Eastern Centrality, as a natural extension of the data centers that already exist in San Blas, Alcobendas or Alcalá de Henares. A interest added to the announcement of new investments in infrastructure in Madrid made by giants like Amazon, Google Cloud, IBM, Microsoft and Oracle, among others.

The expected cloud growth fits into the Innovation District model in which the management committee of the New Centrality of the East works to promote and strengthen the first great neighborhood of innovation in the capital leveraged on the axes of innovation, Smart Cities, startups, IoT, Smart Mobility or economic activity 4.0following some successful cases such as the Miami Innovation District, One North Development in Singapore, The Urban Tech Republic in Berlin or the Praille Acacias Vernet in Geneva.

Madrid leads the market in southern Europe with 31 operational data centers, prospects for 14 new projects

The objective of the project seeks promote innovation and technological development through companies and other centers, such as the creation of a technological cluster, the attraction of prestigious universities and campuses, the development of business incubation programs and the configuration of specialized innovation hubs (technology, sportstech, biomedicine, Smart Mobility, agrotechnology, clean energy , cybersecurity, 3D printing, video games, machine learning and artificial intelligence…). Such a set of activities that will demand the presence of sustainable data centers that guarantee service availability and facilitate compliance with legal regulations when saving the data of users and companies.

“As part of our commitment to promote an Innovation District in Madrid, we are talking to different investors and technology companies that want to take advantage of the proximity of the New Centrality of the East with the center of the capital and the large corporate headquarters of the companies to take advantage of a blank canvas to create sustainable data centers with the most advanced technologies for smart building management and service efficiency”, he points out Alfredo Zulueta, president of the managing commission of the New Eastern Centrality.

According to data from Colliers, Madrid leads the market in southern Europe with 31 operational data centers, prospects for 14 new projects and 505 MW under development, equivalent to 70% of the total under development in the Iberia region. In addition, Madrid will benefit from the reinforcement of international connections, improving its strategic position with three new submarine cable networks that will link Spain with America (Grace Hooper and EllaLink) and with the African continent (2Africa).

According to the estimates of the employers’ association Spain Data Center, in the four FLAP markets (Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam and Paris) growth is expected (in terms of capacity) that will allow reaching 5,307 MB (Built IT Power) by the end of 2026 . This represents an average growth rate for these cities of 16.58%, while the average growth rate expected for Madrid could exceed 43.24%.

The data center industry must be recognized as a key sector to achieve an active digital economy capable of creating jobs, attracting investment and creating wealth and impacting all the vectors of digital transformation: cloud services, big data, omnichannel, cybersecurity, interconnection of networks and systems. Some needs and demand that fit with the development possibilities offered by the New Centrality of the East.