Spain to Approve Data Centre Royal Decree in October Amid Industry Backlash

Inside Spain's October Data Centre Decree and the IA360 Roadmap

The Spanish government plans to approve a royal decree regulating data centres in October, putting a legal framework around the infrastructure it says is essential for artificial intelligence development. The text is now in the comment-review phase after the public consultation closed on 10 September, and the October approval target appears in the IA360 plan presented on Monday by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

The IA360 roadmap sets out twelve months of actions around technology infrastructure, AI adoption by companies and workers, cybersecurity, AI governance and a new social contract on AI with unions and employers. The data centre decree is one of the central building blocks, but it is arriving amid intense criticism from the industry.

The sector association SpainDC has warned that if the rule goes ahead in its current form, Spain could jeopardise between 80% and 90% of the €67bn in new investment expected for the sector by 2030 and end up with the most restrictive regulatory framework in the European Union. The government counters that grid connection requests linked to data centres already far exceed the roughly 2.5 gigawatts of effective demand it estimates for 2030, and that satisfying all potential requests would force costly reinforcement of the electricity network paid by all consumers.

The same plan connects the decree to Spain's bid for a large AI computing gigafactory. The facility would be designed to comply with the new rules from the outset and act as a reference project. Madrid assumes Spain will win one of the European AI gigafactories, but the EU call remains open until 12 November and the Commission is not expected to decide until early 2027. The government's timetable points to February 2027 for the start of construction and 2028 for operations, with €5bn of public-private investment and 100,000 AI accelerators planned.

Beyond infrastructure, the roadmap includes a new AI Safety Institute inside AESIA, an October pilot of a quantum cyber shield with the financial sector, a post-quantum cryptography royal decree, a social contract negotiation with unions and employers, a new Scale-Up Law, and plans to bring AI into secondary and vocational education.

Why SpainDC Warns the Decree Could Cost the Sector Billions

SpainDC's €67bn Warning and the Grid-Capacity Conflict

The central dispute is between data centre operators and the government over a basic constraint: electricity. The government says connection requests exceed the 2.5 GW demand it forecasts for 2030 and argues that building grid capacity for all of them would raise costs for ordinary consumers. SpainDC is warning that the regulation as drafted would cut most of the €67bn investment pipeline, because stricter technical, environmental or grid-access conditions would make projects harder to finance or build. The final damage depends on how far the text changes after the hundreds of sector comments submitted during consultation.

This is not merely a Spanish permitting debate. If the decree makes Spain the EU's most restrictive market, the relative advantage could shift to other European locations competing for AI and cloud capacity. The government wants both tighter controls and one of Europe's largest AI factories; those goals may conflict unless the final rule includes fast-track conditions for strategic projects.

The Gigafactory's Ambitious Timeline vs. Brussels' Calendar

Spain's IA360 plan assumes a Spanish gigafactory will be built, but the European call is open until 12 November 2026 and Commission decisions are not due until early 2027. A February 2027 construction start would therefore require a nearly immediate decision and project preparation. The €5bn project, with €719m of public funds and 100,000 AI accelerators by 2028–2029, is a strong industrial ambition, but the timeline leaves little margin for the regulatory approval, land, power and procurement steps that normally precede construction.

The Less Visible Parts of IA360 That Could Outlast the Headline

Beyond data centres, the plan contains several commitments whose implementation detail will shape how broadly the policy lands. AESIA is to host a new AI Safety Institute with an initial technical core before the end of 2026; the financial sector faces a quantum cyber shield pilot in October and a future royal decree on post-quantum cryptography; the government will open social dialogue in October on AI's labour and economic impact; and a new Scale-Up Law would extend the seven-year startup age limit for deeptech companies. These measures could have more day-to-day consequences for finance, education and the start-up ecosystem than the data centre decree itself, but they are still at the design stage.

What the IA360 Timeline Means for Operators, Investors and Public Bodies

• Data centre operators and investors: Treat the final shape of the October decree as a binary risk to SpainDC's €67bn investment figure. If restrictions in the current draft remain, projects representing the 80–90% at-risk share may need to be re-underwritten or relocated before capital is committed.
• Companies seeking grid access: Benchmark each project against the government's 2.5 GW effective-demand estimate for 2030. Requests above that level are likely to face greater scrutiny or public-network cost recovery, so site selection and private power arrangements should be reassessed now.
• AI gigafactory consortia: Use the 12 November 2026 EU call deadline and the Commission's early-2027 decision timing to align permitting and power plans. The Spanish government's February 2027 construction target only works if consortium and public approvals move in parallel.
• Financial institutions: The October quantum cyber shield pilot and the planned post-quantum cryptography royal decree mean encryption migration planning cannot wait for final rules; identify critical systems before the framework becomes mandatory.
• Deep-tech and scale-up companies: Follow the autumn Scale-Up Law and the proposed extension of the seven-year age limit for scientific-based firms. The 2030 goal of 50 unicorns depends on eligibility terms that are still open to influence.