The Community of Madrid represents one in five euros of the GDP of Spain and more than two thirds of the foreign productive investment in Spain. We talk about a proud region of its contribution to the development of the country, solidarity (it contributes 70% of the fundamental public services guarantee), and very dynamic, with more than 350,000 students enrolled in their 19 universities, where they are born more every day more of 75 companies and 314 people find employment. It is also the center of the digital economy, with more than 30 operational data centers and 185 MW installed, 80% of the national total. This is precisely one of the few certainties that we have of the future: that it can only go through them.
Two thirds of the world population already have Internet access, with 97% of the connections made from the mobile. The traffic of these devices has multiplied for more than 10 times between 2017 and 2023, from 13 to 150 exabytes. Every day larger, faster, more efficient, more sustainable, data centers are the heart of the beast that allow us The mobile. The AI that they house also allows the image diagnosis for the early detection of cancer or the study of the heart before a surgical intervention. Wind energy turbines are more efficient and safe in the face of changing weather conditions thanks to the analysis of thousands of sensors in real time; The robotics of our companies avoid accidents and allows people less repetitive tasks, more in accordance with their capacity. All this, let’s believe it or not, depends on the data centers.
We talk about a huge source of wealth, as every 100 MW of installed power represents around 1,000 million euros of investment, with an impact on GDP of about 1.2 billion euros, almost 1,000 jobs with a high and high added value during its operational phase (Excluded construction, which almost triples the figures), and a tax collection that allows to improve public services.
But, for everything to work, two conditions are essential: energy and political will. As for the first, the AI computing demands have caused a spectacular leap in the needs, and where 30 or 40 megawatts (MW) were previously requested, now the centers of Híper scale triple that demand. Unfortunately, Sánchez’s government shows an irrational opposition to the Madrid community model. The 2021-2026 electric power transport network of the Ministry for Ecological Transition rejected about twenty proposals for electrical companies for new infrastructure in our region. If we really want to change the country’s productive model and compete in the artificial intelligence league, generating value, attracting talent and offering high quality work to our young people, the government cannot cut off the development of data centers. The restriction of the investments of the transport networks to 0.65% of GDP and those of 0.13% distribution are completely away from the current needs of the sector and, therefore, from citizens. A scarcity problem is not solved by returning to a country to the caves of technological underdevelopment, but with brave measures that make sustainability with technology.
As for the second, the Community of Madrid has been demonstrating its commitment to multiple measures, some as recent as Law 7/2024, of December 26, which encourages the implementation of data centers on non -sectorized urbanizable land, and simplifies The procedure for approval. It also modifies the electrical supply guarantee law facilitating the applications for connection of large consumers. We also have an investment accelerator that already processs data centers for an added investment exceeding 5,500 million euros and more than 1,700 direct jobs.
Without both requirements, the planned investment will vanitize Spain to be located where it achieves it. And we talk about more than 16,000 million euros in the next 6 years, only in our community. A region that has already put on the table a regulatory framework that combines deregulation measures with investment acceleration instruments, and adds to the most attractive fiscal policy of Spain for workers. The central government depends on a country where our young people can generate personalized cancer therapies, or another where we continue exporting talent to import the models that those young people will develop where they are not afraid of progress.