Data center projects as a tool to alleviate territorial inequality

To standardize the regulatory framework for data centers in Spain through a state law, the core process is the same as for any ordinary bill, with some prior political decisions regarding the scope of competencies (what is established as state bases and what is left to the autonomous communities). The main parliamentary steps are described below, from the origin of the initiative to its publication in the BOE.

1. Initiative and approval of the initial text

The most common route would be a Government bill. The competent Ministry or ministries (for example, those responsible for industry, digitalization, energy, or ecological transition) draft a text that aims to unify basic criteria on implementation, technical requirements, administrative coordination, etc. After internal work and any consultative and reporting processes the Government wants or must gather, the text is submitted for approval by the Council of Ministers. Once approved, the Council of Ministers formally sends it to the Congress of Deputies.

Alternatively, it could be a private member's bill presented by one or more parliamentary groups from the Congress or the Senate. In that case, the drafting phase is political and not governmental, but the subsequent parliamentary process is substantially the same.

2. Admission for processing and amendments in the Congress

Upon receipt of the bill or proposal, the Congress Board classifies the text and admits it for processing if it meets formal requirements. This decision opens the parliamentary path and orders its publication in the Official Bulletin of the Cortes.

Then, a period for submitting amendments by parliamentary groups is opened. These can be:

• Amendments to the entirety, which propose returning the text or replacing it with another complete one.
• Partial amendments, which modify specific articles (for example, the scope of state bases, authorization regime, or coordination with the autonomous communities).

3. Debate on entirety and committee in the Congress

If amendments to the entirety have been submitted, a debate on entirety in the Plenary is held. The Government or the proposing group defends the text, the groups state their position, and a vote on the return is held. If the return is rejected, the initiative continues its course.

The text goes to the competent committee (for example, one on industry or digitalization), where partial amendments are discussed and voted on. From this work results a committee report, which already incorporates the approved modifications. This report is a key piece: it finalizes the basic state rules and any territorial coordination clause.

4. Plenary of the Congress and sending to the Senate

The report is submitted to the Congress Plenary, where it is debated again and the so-called “live amendments” are voted on, that is, those not incorporated in committee and that the groups maintain for the Plenary. At the end of the debate, the text is voted on as a whole. If it obtains the necessary majority, the Congress approves the law in first reading.

The approved text is then sent to the Senate, which acts as the second reading chamber.

5. Processing in the Senate

In the Senate, a similar scheme is followed: classification by the Board, submission of amendments, and possible debate in committee and Plenary. The Senate can:

• Approve the text without changes, making the law definitively ready for sanction.
• Approve amendments, proposing adjustments that must be reviewed by the Congress.
• Approve a veto, that is, a global rejection of the law.

6. Second round in the Congress

If the Senate introduces amendments or vetoes the text, the Congress must decide again. At this stage it can:

• Lift the Senate veto with the required majority.
• Accept or reject Senate amendments, integrating only those that obtain sufficient support.

The result is the definitive text that standardizes the regulatory framework for data centers, within state competencies and respecting the autonomies.

7. Sanction, promulgation, and publication

Finally, the law is sent to the King for sanction and promulgation. Once signed, it is published in the Official State Gazette (BOE). Only after its publication and the possible vacatio legis does it become fully applicable, serving as a common reference and homogeneous basis for the entire territory.

The Spanish Constitution fundamentally configures land management as a competence of the autonomous communities, but within a framework of limits and bases set by the State. This is articulated through several provisions, especially articles 47, 148, and 149 of the Constitution, and has been shaped by extensive Constitutional Court jurisprudence.

1. Constitutional starting point

Although the Constitution does not literally use the expression “land management,” it does regulate the key elements:

• Article 47 CE: recognizes the right of all Spaniards to enjoy decent and adequate housing and orders public authorities to regulate land use according to the general interest to prevent speculation.
• Article 148.1.3 CE: allows autonomous communities to assume competencies in “territorial planning, urbanism, and housing.” This clause is the main anchor of their powers over land.
• Article 149 CE: attributes to the State competencies over various “bases” that condition autonomous regulation (for example, property regime, environment, bases of the Social Security economic regime, etc.).

From the combination of these provisions, it results that autonomous communities have broad normative and executive powers over land use, always respecting state bases and other constitutional rights involved (private property, environment, equality, etc.).

2. Main autonomous competencies over land

In general terms, autonomous communities exercise three major types of competencies regarding land:

• Territorial planning: defines the major uses of space (residential, industrial, agricultural, protected areas, infrastructures, coastline, etc.). Through territorial plans or guidelines, communities establish the framework in which municipal urban planning is later inserted.
• Urbanism: includes regulation of planning, management, and urban discipline:
  • Rules on classification and qualification of land (urban, developable, rural, protected, etc.).
  • Determination of urban development rights, mandatory transfers, and provision standards.
  • Procedures for drafting, approval, and revision of general plans and other planning instruments.
  • Licensing regime, execution orders, inspection, and sanctioning of urban infractions.
• Housing and land policies: includes the design of protected housing policies, public land parks, minimum land reserves for affordable housing, urban rehabilitation programs, and neighborhood regeneration.

In practice, this means that urban and territorial planning laws regulating how land can be used, transformed, and built upon are, at their core, autonomous laws, and autonomous administrations supervise and coordinate municipal actions in this field.

3. State limits and bases

Although autonomous communities have a central position, they do not act in a normative vacuum. The State maintains competencies that directly affect land regulation:

• Property regime and bases of contractual obligations (art. 149.1.8 CE): allows the State to set essential elements of the content of property rights over land and basic principles of expropriation, compensation, valuations, etc.
• Basic environmental legislation (art. 149.1.23 CE): significantly conditions territorial planning and urbanism, imposing environmental protection standards, impact assessments, protected zones, among others.
• Other sectoral bases: infrastructures, coasts, waters, historical heritage, energy, or transport, where the State can establish easements, protection zones, or use limitations that communities must respect in their land planning.

Constitutional jurisprudence has emphasized that the State can establish a “minimum floor” of guarantees and basic principles, while autonomous communities develop the urban and territorial regime in detail. If an autonomous norm contradicts those bases, it can be declared unconstitutional, but it enjoys a wide margin of configuration as long as it remains within that framework.

4. Role of municipalities and coordination

Although the question focuses on autonomous competencies, the Constitution (arts. 137 and 140 CE) guarantees municipal autonomy. In practice:

• Communities approve territorial laws and guidelines.
• Municipalities draft and execute the specific urban planning (general plans, partial plans, etc.), applying those laws and guidelines.
• The autonomous community supervises the legality of those plans and can definitively approve them or exercise legality controls and urban oversight.

Thus, land management according to the Constitution is essentially an autonomous competence of territorial planning, urbanism, and housing, exercised in collaboration with municipalities and framed by the bases and limits set by the State to guarantee the general interest, environmental protection, basic equality, and the essential content of property rights.

The latest regional elections in Aragón were not those of 2023, but the early elections of February 8, 2026. They resulted in a Parliament heavily skewed to the right, with a clear victory for the PP but without an absolute majority, and a new regional government of a PP–Vox coalition led by Jorge Azcón (PP).

Results of the 2026 Aragón regional elections

With 98.77 % of the vote counted, the composition of the Cortes of Aragón was as follows, according to the count reported by the newspaper Demócrata:

• People's Party (PP): 26 deputies, with 34.26 % of the votes.
• Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE): 18 deputies, 24.29 % of the vote.
• Vox: 14 deputies, 17.88 % of the vote.
• Chunta Aragonesista (CHA): 6 deputies, 9.73 % of the vote.
• Aragón Existe (a coalition of Aragonese/Teruel scope): 2 deputies, 3.55 %.
• Izquierda Unida – Movimiento Sumar: 1 deputy, 2.94 %.
• Se Acabó la Fiesta (SALF): 0 deputies, although it obtained 2.74 % of the votes.
• Partido Aragonés (PAR): 0 deputies, 1.24 % of the vote.
• Podemos–Alianza Verde (Podemos–AV): 0 deputies, 0.94 % of the vote.

The Cortes of Aragón have a total of 67 seats, so the absolute majority is set at 34 deputies. The PP, despite winning clearly, fell 8 seats short of that majority, making a post-election pact essential to ensure investiture and governability.

These results meant:

• A setback for the PP in seats compared to 2023 (it went from 28 to 26, according to various comparative analyses cited in the press), although maintaining the first position.
• A sharp decline for the PSOE, which fell to 18 deputies, one of its worst historical results in the community.
• A significant leap for Vox, which approximately doubled its presence to 14 seats and became a key actor for any right-wing majority.
• The consolidation of CHA as a relevant force of the alternative left, increasing from 3 to 6 seats.
• The persistence of Aragón Existe as a territorial force with 2 deputies and the minimal representation of IU–Sumar with 1 seat.
• The exit from Parliament of historically present formations such as Podemos and PAR, which were left without seats despite maintaining around 1 % of the votes each.

Which party currently governs Aragón?

Following these results, the PP opened negotiations with Vox. According to various political chronicles cited by Demócrata, the PP–Vox bloc totaled 40 of the 67 seats in the Chamber (26 from PP and 14 from Vox), a sufficient majority to comfortably surpass the 34 seats required to invest a president.

The process culminated with a government agreement between PP and Vox and the investiture of Jorge Azcón as president of the Government of Aragón in the XII legislature. Specialized press and consulted documentation describe:

• A programmatic pact between both formations, with distribution of areas in the regional Executive, guaranteeing the stability of the legislature.
• An investiture vote in the Cortes of Aragón in which Azcón was supported by the 26 deputies of the PP and the 14 of Vox, against the votes of PSOE, CHA, Aragón Existe, and IU.
• The swearing-in of Jorge Azcón as Aragonese president at the end of April and beginning of May 2026, starting his second consecutive term leading the community.

In summary, as of today Aragón is governed by a PP–Vox coalition with an absolute parliamentary majority, led by Jorge Azcón (PP), arising from the early regional elections of February 8, 2026.