The data center fever, in check: canceled projects, lack of connection points, and energy debate

Based on the available information, the “anti-crisis decree” you refer to is a state Royal Decree-law linked to the response measures to the Iran war, in which the Government has taken the opportunity to introduce a capacity reservation fee and new requirements for data center projects. This fee does not appear as an independent regulation but is embedded within a broader economic decree-law, as described in several Demócrata pieces about the anti-crisis decrees and the use of this instrument to group fiscal, energy, and social measures.

However, neither in the consulted parliamentary database nor in the official notes from the Congress is there an identification, with a specific Royal Decree-law number, of an entry explicitly mentioning “data center fee.” Press articles indicate that:

• The Council of Ministers approved an anti-crisis Royal Decree-law that includes a provision on data centers and a capacity reservation fee.
• This decree must follow the ordinary validation process in the Congress, like any other Royal Decree-law.
• No note confirming unequivocally the specific validation vote result of this particular decree is found in the open official sources.

Therefore, from a strictly parliamentary point of view, it is only possible to state the following with certainty:

• The fee for data centers is part of an anti-crisis Royal Decree-law already approved by the Government and sent to the Cortes.
• This Royal Decree-law is, at least, under parliamentary control in the Congress, subject to validation or repeal within a maximum period of 30 days from its publication in the BOE.
• There is no record, in the official documents consulted this time, that its processing as a bill has already been decided or that specific amendment periods on the fee have been opened.

In parallel to this decree-law, the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge has processed a draft Royal Decree on energy efficiency and sustainability of data centers, subject to:

• Prior public consultation (July 2024).
• Public hearing and information (08/08/2025–15/09/2025), with a draft Royal Decree regulating reporting obligations, efficiency criteria, reuse of residual heat, etc.

This regulatory development, although based on legal mandates (including the anti-crisis decree), does not go through a legislative procedure in the Cortes: it is approved by the Council of Ministers and published directly in the BOE, without a vote in Congress and Senate, beyond the general political control over the Government.

Expected next steps in processing

Given this framework, the remaining steps for the “final processing” of the fee and its regulatory architecture are divided into two levels:

1. Parliamentary level (anti-crisis Royal Decree-law)

1. Debate and validation vote in the Plenary of the Congress, if it has not already taken place. The Congress decides between:
   • Validating the Royal Decree-law, keeping it in force.
   • Repealing it, which would cause the package of measures to lapse, unless the Government refocuses them in another initiative.
2. In the same Plenary, the Congress may agree, by simple majority, to process the Royal Decree-law as a bill by the urgent procedure. If so decided:
   • An amendment period opens (to the whole and to the articles), where the fee or its parameters could be modified.
   • The text goes to committee, drafting and report; then to the Plenary of the Congress and finally to the Senate, with the possibility of amendments or veto.
   • If there are changes in the Senate, the Congress has the final say on the final wording.
3. If the Congress validates but does not agree to process as a bill, the decree-law remains with “closed” law status, and the fee will remain as originally designed, except for future reforms through another regulation.

2. Regulatory level (development Royal Decree on data centers)

1. Closing of the public hearing and information phase and analysis of received allegations.
2. Obtaining mandatory reports (Council of State, other departments) and possible adjustment of the text.
3. Approval by the Council of Ministers of the final Royal Decree.
4. Publication in the BOE and entry into force on the date set by the final provision (usually after 20 days, unless otherwise provided).

In summary, the fee for data centers originates in an anti-crisis Royal Decree-law already within the orbit of the Congress and will be finalized through a sectoral Royal Decree still under governmental processing. Without an official regulation number and without a specific voting record available in this search, it is not possible to pinpoint exactly where the validation stands today, but it is possible to outline the pending steps and the dual level — parliamentary and regulatory — at which its definitive implementation is played out.

The access and connection regime for large generation facilities to the electrical grid is mainly based on Law 24/2013 of the Electricity Sector (Law 24/2013) and Royal Decree 1183/2020, on access and connection to transmission and distribution networks (RD 1183/2020). On this basis, the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) concentrates the key state competencies, while the CNMC and network operators handle the technical methodology and individual permit processing.

1. General framework and division of roles

Article 33 of Law 24/2013 defines the right of access and connection and establishes a division of competencies: the Government is responsible for setting, by royal decree, the criteria and general procedure for granting permits; the CNMC must “approve by circular the methodology and conditions of access and connection” (application content, economic and technical criteria, reasons for denial, etc.), as recalled by Production Circular 1/2021 and Demand Circular 1/2024 cited in the BOE and CNMC notes (CNMC note 07-05-2024).

RD 1183/2020 develops this framework and specifies what corresponds to the Government (and, in practice, to MITECO) and what to the CNMC and network operators. From there, the Ministry's intervention in access and connection of large facilities is articulated.

2. Transmission network planning

Law 24/2013 assigns the State the binding planning of the electricity transmission network (art. 4), which is approved by the Government at MITECO's proposal. This planning determines which transmission infrastructures exist or will be built and, therefore, where access capacity for new large facilities may be available.

In practice, MITECO proposes and modifies the 2021-2026 Transmission Network Development Plan and its update to 2030, as successive Council of Ministers decisions “at the proposal of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition” on planning and regulation of network investment plans reflect (for example, the royal decree enabling an additional 17.9 billion in networks until 2030, cited in Demócrata).

3. Basic regulation of access and connection

MITECO, through the Government, is competent to:

• Approve the basic regulations governing the procedure and general criteria for access and connection (RD 1183/2020), including aspects such as temporal priority, grounds for inadmission, and expiration rules for permits.
• Promote additional reforms to regulate the use of network capacity, for example through royal decrees setting expiration of access and connection rights for demand and additional requirements to avoid hoarding, as detailed by MITECO in its royal decree proposal to “strengthen the electrical system” (note 07-31-2025).
• Regulate, by ministerial order, specific aspects derived from RD 1183/2020: capacity auctions at specific nodes, requirements for certain technologies, minimum technical standards for connected facilities, etc.

In parallel, the CNMC specifies the “methodology and conditions” and detailed specifications for calculating firm access capacity in generation and demand (resolutions of 06-27-2024 and 06-08-2025, BOE-A-2024-13823 and BOE-A-2025-12396).

4. Capacity auctions and large projects

RD 1183/2020 expressly empowers MITECO to call capacity auctions at specific transmission network nodes for new renewable or storage facilities. The Ministry itself recalls this in its note “MITECO launches a Manifestation of Interest on nodes for capacity auctions to the grid” (03-18-2024), explaining that:

• MITECO decides at which nodes capacities are reserved for auction.
• It designs the auction bases (award criteria, project requirements, information to be collected).
• It calls and resolves the auctions, publishing resolutions in the BOE and releasing unawarded capacity for ordinary assignment.

An example includes ministerial orders for just transition nodes (Mudéjar, Garoña, Lada, etc.) and recent access grants to industrial projects highlighted by Demócrata, where it is emphasized that unassigned capacity “will be released according to the general criteria of RD 1183/2020.”

5. Authorization of large facilities and milestone management

Beyond the access and connection permit (granted by the operator and network owner), MITECO is the substantive authority for prior administrative and construction authorization of large generation facilities (over 50 MW or affecting several autonomous communities), as recalled in the note “MITECO authorizes the construction of 28 GW of new renewable facilities” (07-29-2024).

Under Royal Decree-law 23/2020, the Ministry also controls compliance with milestones (environmental assessment, construction authorization, commissioning within deadlines). If not met, projects lose their access and connection rights, freeing capacity for new initiatives.

6. Coordination and supervision

Finally, MITECO:

• Coordinates planning and regulation with the CNMC (which advises on draft royal decrees and develops circulars) and with autonomous communities, which intervene in hearing procedures and are competent for many facilities connected to distribution networks.
• Issues instructions and collects information from the system operator (Red Eléctrica/Redeia) in risk situations for the system or to adjust planning, as reflected in various official notes and parliamentary news.
• Exercises, within the sanctioning regime of Law 24/2013, inspection powers and sanction proposals for non-compliance with authorization conditions or milestones linked to access and connection permits.

Overall, MITECO sets the normative and planning framework, designs and resolves auctions, and authorizes large facilities; the CNMC defines detailed methodology and technical criteria, and network operators and autonomous communities process individual permits and execute infrastructure.

For a data center project to obtain authorization for a connection point (access and connection permit) to the electrical grid in Spain, it must comply with both the general regime of access and connection to transmission and distribution networks and a growing set of specific requirements for large electro-intensive consumers and, in particular, for data centers.

1. General access and connection framework

The basic regime is based on the Law 24/2013, of the Electricity Sector (art. 33) and on Royal Decree 1183/2020, on access and connection to transmission and distribution networks. This royal decree:

• Requires obtaining access permit (use of the network under given conditions) and connection permit (physical coupling to a specific point of the network) before the consumption installation can be authorized or commissioned.
• Establishes a single electronic procedure processed before the network operator (Red Eléctrica in transmission or the distributor in distribution), acting as a single point of contact, with web platforms where the status of the application and the available capacity of each node can be consulted.
• Regulates the minimum documentation, grounds for inadmission and denial, prior proposal of connection point, response deadlines (depending on voltage level), and temporal priority among applications.
• Provides that the project owner pays the costs of access and connection studies and, when applicable, advances and payments for necessary network reinforcement investments, regulated in detail in its articles 24 and 25.

2. Capacity evaluation and CNMC criteria

For data centers (large demands at high voltage), CNMC regulations are key:

• Circular 1/2024 sets the methodology and conditions for demand access and connection and enables CNMC to specify how firm capacity is calculated at each node.
• The Resolution of June 8, 2025 (BOE-A-2025-12396) approves the detailed specifications to determine firm demand access capacity in distribution networks: network architecture criteria, study scenario, operation forecasts, technical limits, and the operator's obligation to justify denials and, in certain cases, propose alternative points.
• Other CNMC acts require network operators to publish maps and standardized formats of access capacity for demand and generation, facilitating promoters to identify nodes with available power.

3. Technical requirements for demand installations

Data centers, as large consumers usually connected at medium or high voltage, must comply with:

• Order TED/749/2020, which sets the technical connection requirements derived from European network codes. Its Annex II includes requirements for demand installations: behavior against frequency and voltage, short-circuit power, reactive power, protections, control, etc.
• The Regulation on technical conditions and safety guarantees in high voltage electrical installations (Royal Decree 337/2014 and its ITC-RAT), expressly cited in Circular 1/2024 for the commissioning phase of demand installations in HV.
• High voltage line regulations (RD 223/2008) and, where applicable, low voltage regulations, for internal parts of the connection and measurement and protection equipment.

4. Administrative, environmental, and urban authorizations

Although the access and connection permit is a specific electrical procedure, in practice it must align with other authorizations:

• Royal Decree 1955/2000 regulates the procedures for administrative authorization of electrical energy installations (evacuation lines, substations, etc.) that usually form part of the connection project of a data center.
• Law 21/2013, on environmental assessment, determines in which cases the new substation, high voltage lines, or the complex itself must undergo ordinary or simplified environmental impact assessment.
• Autonomous communities and municipalities also require urban and environmental licenses (classified activity, noise, discharges, cooling water, etc.), which are usually milestones to be accredited during electrical processing.

5. Fee, deadlines, and risk of expiration

The recent Royal Decree-law 7/2026, described in Demócrata’s report on the “anti-crisis decree,” adds specific requirements for large consumers such as data centers:

• A monthly capacity reservation fee is introduced: from the moment the access and connection permit is obtained, the holder pays for the reserved power even if not yet connected, with refunds via discounts when the project enters service.
• A fixed milestone calendar is set for intensive demand: early payment of part of the investment in network infrastructure, signing of project assignment contract, formalization of access contract, and commissioning within specific deadlines. Non-compliance entails automatic expiration of the permit.
• It clarifies that access rights for demand expire after five years if at least 50% of the granted power has not been contracted for three consecutive years, avoiding speculative hoarding of connection points.

6. Firm access and flexible access

When firm capacity is not available, the CNMC has regulated an additional route:

• The resolution of August 11, 2026 (CNMC note on flexible access permits) develops Circular 1/2024 and creates flexible demand access permits, also applicable to large consumers.
• These permits allow connection at saturated nodes under conditions such as: consumption time patterns, possibility of remote disconnection, dynamic power limitations by network operator instructions, and obligation of real-time monitoring.

7. Specific requirements for data centers

According to Demócrata’s analysis of the anti-crisis decree, the Government foresees a specific royal decree for data centers connected to transmission and distribution networks. In its draft:

• Access is conditioned on demonstrating effective use of renewable energy (additionality and hourly correlation between consumption and green generation).
• High energy efficiency standards, sustainable water use, and a tangible economic and social contribution in the territory are required.
• Projects must strengthen European digital resilience and sovereignty; non-compliance with these criteria may lead to loss of access and connection permits.

In sum, to obtain a connection point, a data center must pass a cumulative filter: real availability of capacity in the network, strict compliance with technical connection requirements, environmental and urban viability, respect for new deadlines and fees against speculation, and progressively demonstrate that its enormous electrical consumption is integrated into a decarbonization and digital sovereignty strategy.