Lleida, a city in Catalonia, has become the first Spanish city to ban data centers. This decision has sparked debate over the economic and environmental implications of such facilities. According to the local government, led by Mayor Fèlix Larrosa, data centers do not provide sufficient economic benefits and place excessive demands on energy and water resources.
Why Lleida Banned Data Centers: The Mayor’s Perspective
Mayor Fèlix Larrosa’s opposition to data centers centers on two main concerns: their lack of contribution to the local economy and their significant environmental impact. The council claims that these facilities do not create enough skilled jobs and consume too much energy and water. This stance has led to the rejection of multiple data center proposals, including one where a company had purchased land in the region, only for the council to refuse changing the land’s use.
Industry Expert Pushback: Addressing the Misinformation
Industry experts have strongly contested the city council’s position. José María Guilleuma, director of data centers at Colliers, argues that the council’s concerns are based on misinformation. He points out that data centers would indirectly create jobs in areas like maintenance and security. Furthermore, Guilleuma suggests that concerns about resource consumption should be considered for the entire tech industry, including battery parks and hydrogen generators, not just data centers.
Lleida’s Current Data Center Landscape
As of now, there are no data centers operating in Lleida, according to Datacenter Map. This stands in stark contrast to neighboring Aragon, which has been actively attracting data center investment. Aragon has secured approximately €33 billion in investments from major tech companies like Blackstone, Microsoft, and AWS. In June 2024, Microsoft pledged an additional €6.9 billion to develop new data centers in the region.
Controversial Data Center Projects in Spain
Elsewhere in Spain, large-scale data center projects have faced significant public criticism. For example, Meta’s plan to build a $1.1 billion data center in the Toledo region has been heavily criticized due to its expected consumption of over 600 million liters of water, a concerning figure for an area already at risk of drought.
FAQ
1. Why did Lleida ban data centers? Lleida banned data centers due to concerns that they do not create enough skilled jobs and consume excessive resources like energy and water, which the city views as unsustainable.
2. How does the data center industry impact the local economy? Data centers can contribute indirectly to local economies by creating jobs in maintenance, security, and related sectors. They also attract further technological development and investment.
3. What are the environmental concerns related to data centers? Data centers consume significant amounts of electricity and water, raising concerns about their sustainability in areas where resources are limited or in drought-prone regions.
4. Are data centers beneficial for cities? Data centers can be beneficial by driving economic growth, attracting investments, and creating jobs. However, their high resource consumption and limited direct job creation may pose challenges for some regions.
5. How are neighboring regions in Spain responding to data center development? Regions like Aragon are actively pursuing data center investments, with major companies like Microsoft and AWS committing billions to build data centers in the area, in contrast to Lleida’s stance.
