The Minister for Digital Transformation and Public Function, Óscar López, expressed this Monday his confidence that Spain will host one of the first three major artificial intelligence facilities planned by the European Union (EU).
"I have the pride and conviction to say that Spain will host one of the first three gigafactories of the European Union," López pointed out during the 40th edition of the 'Digital Economy and Telecommunications Meeting' of Ametic, the employers' association of the digital industry in Spain, which takes place in Santander as part of the summer courses of the International University Menéndez Pelayo (UIMP).
The forum brings together from this Monday until Wednesday the main representatives of the digital ecosystem —Public Administrations, companies, the academic world, professional colleges, social agents, and civil society— with the aim of discussing how to reconcile technological advancement with social welfare and promote sustainable and inclusive development.
"There will then be another of medium size, but I am absolutely convinced that the Spanish candidacy will be one of the first gigafactories in Europe in this call from the European Commission," the minister added.
Garamendi demands that Spain be "leading" in technology
In this scenario, the president of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE), Antonio Garamendi, emphasized that "hopefully" Spain will achieve one of the future European AI gigafactories.
In statements to the media, Garamendi pointed out that the country must advance towards technological leadership, although he preferred to be cautious: "Hopefully. But, well, I like things when they are done, although hopefully," he reiterated.
At the same time, he stressed that Spain must aspire to be at the forefront in this field. "I believe that Spain has to work in that direction and I believe that Spain deserves it. We have to be leaders in the technological field," he stated.
"Spanish technology companies, and even foreign companies that are in Spain, which are also part of our business fabric, have to contribute a lot. Moreover, I believe that new jobs, the future, and the new economy are there," he indicated.
Spanish candidacy starting in September
The Spanish public-private consortium, formed by the Government, the Generalitat of Catalonia, Banco Santander, ACS, Telefónica, and Multiverse Computing, will present from this month its proposal to opt for one of the seven AI gigafactories that will be launched in Europe.
The Executive gave the green light last month to an injection of 719 million euros, channeled through the Spanish Society for Technological Transformation (SETT), known as "SEPI Digital," in the consortium with which Spain will compete for the community call to establish an advanced artificial intelligence gigafactory. The initiative will mobilize around 5 billion euros.
To this amount is added a voluntary contribution of 300 million euros, approved by the Council of Ministers in June for the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC), in the concept of services. This body, based in Luxembourg, will be responsible for operating the AI factories and promoting the creation and access to these infrastructures in the EU.
Banco Santander, ACS, and Telefónica will be the three private reference partners in the Spanish project and will jointly control 47% of the capital of the company, with an individual participation of 15.67% each.
With the incorporation of Multiverse Computing, which will have 4%, the private block will reach 51% of the capital and will assume control of the entity, while the Government will have 47.99% through the SETT and the Generalitat of Catalonia will initially have 1%.
The initiative will have a dual headquarters in Móra la Nova (Catalonia) and in San Fernando de Henares (Madrid), will mobilize around 5 billion euros, and will allow universities, SMEs, research centers, and Spanish institutions to significantly increase their research and innovation capacity, thus strengthening the country's competitiveness in the race for artificial intelligence.
European call for AI gigafactories
The European Commission has launched the call to set up up to seven AI gigafactories in the community territory, with which it expects to mobilize more than 30 billion euros of public and private investment to equip the block with cutting-edge infrastructures aimed at the development of advanced models of this technology.
Brussels plans to contribute up to 10 billion euros from European and national funds, with the goal of attracting at least another 20 billion in private capital. The idea is that future facilities will serve companies, SMEs, "startups," research centers, universities, and public administrations to create, train, and execute these systems.
Funding will be structured through EuroHPC, which, along with 18 member states —including Spain— will jointly acquire access to the computing capacity of the selected gigafactories.
The call for proposals will remain open until November 12, and the Commission plans to adopt the award decisions at the beginning of 2027, with the aim of starting the construction of the first facilities in that same year.