The Spanish Public Administration has notably accelerated its commitment to artificial intelligence (AI) over the past year and a half, allocating more than 208 million euros to contracts linked to this technology and reaching a bidding pace that practically equals one file for each working day.
According to the latest report from licitaciones.io, a technology company specialized in the analysis and monitoring of public procurement, between January 2025 and July 2026, 541 competitions related to artificial intelligence have been announced, with a base budget exceeding 208 million euros, which confirms the strong push of public investment in this field.
The document particularly highlights the speed at which this market is expanding. Only in 2025, the monthly volume of bids grew from 16 in January to 42 in December, representing an increase of 163% in one year. In 2026, an average close to 31 monthly bids is maintained, a pace that would allow closing the year with more than 370 calls related to artificial intelligence.
The study also notes a shift in the type of projects being promoted: while in 2025 a good part of the contracts focused on building the necessary infrastructure to deploy artificial intelligence initiatives — technological platforms, servers, software, or data analytics systems — in 2026, administrations have begun to prioritize use cases and concrete solutions.
Thus, the bids associated with software and artificial intelligence platforms already account for 29% of the total projects published this year, while proposals linked to generative artificial intelligence, natural language processing, document automation, specialized consulting, and cybersecurity gain relevance.
At the same time, the weight of allocations directed exclusively to technological infrastructure is decreasing, which shows that the Administration is entering a stage of effective deployment and real use of these tools in its services and processes.
Although the majority of the files correspond to contracts of small or medium amounts, the bulk of the budget is concentrated in a limited number of large initiatives: only 28 contracts above two million euros account for 53% of all investment, with more than 110 million euros awarded, while the average amount per file stands at 390,442 euros, reflecting an increasingly market oriented towards large-scale digital transformation projects.
The analysis also highlights a marked geographical concentration. Madrid, with 176 tenders, and Catalonia, with 121, account for 55% of all public procurement in Spain related to artificial intelligence, driven both by the weight of the General State Administration and by the high presence of public bodies and the technological ecosystem. Following are Andalusia (50 tenders), the Valencian Community (31), and the Basque Country.
Regarding the destinations of the investment, the majority of contracts remain linked to the technological field: IT services represent 47% of the total and software and systems another 25%, so that nearly three out of four tenders are directly related to the development, implementation, or maintenance of digital solutions based on artificial intelligence. At the same time, areas such as training, research, and specialized professional services are beginning to gain ground.