- The new cloud region, located in the Community of Madrid, will provide Artificial Intelligence and cloud services to companies and public organizations, contributing to their digital transformation and the development of the AI Economy in Spain.
- Microsoft’s AI and cloud infrastructures in Spain will generate 10.7 billion euros to the national GDP and contribute to the creation of close to 77,000 jobs between 2024 and 2030, according to IDC.
Microsoft announces the opening of its first cloud region of data centers in Spain, located in multiple locations in the Community de Madrid, from which the company will provide Artificial Intelligence and cloud services and solutions to companies and public entities from Spain and the rest of Europe, offering reliability, security, privacy, and data residency. The new cloud region (called Spain Central) will help to accelerate the digitalization of Spanish organizations, the development of the AI Economy in Spain and the growth of the local IT industry.
Microsoft’s new infrastructure is part of the company’s investment commitment in Spain, which will reach 2.1 billion dollars in the period 2024-2025. The increasing Microsoft cloud footprint in Spain responds to the growing demand for Microsoft’s AI and cloud solutions from Spanish organizations and could add more than 10.7 billion dollars to the national GDP and contribute to the generation of close to 77,000 jobs in the period 2024 – 2030, according to IDC.
The technologies offered at Spain Central are, among others, the most modern services for productivity, data analytics, cybersecurity, computing and storage (Azure, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, Power Platform), and also include generative Artificial Intelligence services, thus placing this cloud region among the most advanced in Europe. The new cloud region will provide highly available, scalable, and secure cloud services, including the option of in-country data residency for Spanish organizations.
Jean-Philippe Courtois, Executive Vice President and President, National Transformation Partnerships, Microsoft, mentions that “Microsoft’s datacenter infrastructure in Spain will play a pivotal role in our European AI strategy. With Spanish businesses enmeshed in the global economy, exporting goods and services around the world, this new cloud region will support and stimulate economic growth for customers and partners, enabling companies, governments, and regulated industries to realize the benefits of the cloud and Artificial Intelligence.”
Alberto Granados, Country Manager, Microsoft Spain, highlights that “We are committed to supporting Spain, by making investments, forging business partnerships, and creating programs that ensure broad access to cloud and AI services that empower organizations and individuals to develop and use technology in ways that will serve the public good. We do so by delivering a data center infrastructure that provides the most innovative cloud and AI services, offering the highest levels of reliability, security, privacy and data residency. Proof of this is the high-level certification within the National Security Scheme, obtained by the new cloud region.”
José Luis Escrivá, Minister for Digital Transformation and Public Function of the Government of Spain mentions that “Microsoft’s new datacenter region will provide cutting-edge, sustainable and secure AI solutions for Spain and the rest of Europe. It is a great satisfaction that Microsoft is once again committed to Spain for the deployment of state-of-the-art infrastructures and services, thus contributing to the positioning of our country at the forefront of digital transformation.”
Miguel López-Valverde, Regional Minister of Digitalization of the Government of Community of Madrid, emphasizes that «the continuous investment by a major company like Microsoft in the region reflects the conditions created here to attract talent, investments, and opportunities. The regional government has made a strong commitment to digitalization and is consolidating the Community’s technological leadership both nationally and internationally with the support of innovative multinational companies like Microsoft.»
Spanish companies and public organizations are already using the powerful and secure services offered by the new Microsoft’s cloud region, leveraging high-speed and low-latency data connections that open the door to the deployment of new workloads and AI services that were not possible before, and the development of more agile and efficient applications.
Joan Ral Gene, CIO of CELSA Group: «The new Microsoft Cloud Region in Spain allows us to deploy all services within the same region and reduce distances, minimizing latency times. In addition, it reinforces the security and sovereignty of the data, by locating it in Spain, and guarantees compliance with both European and Spanish regulations.»
Elena Liria, CEO of Madrid Digital: «Microsoft is a great partner of the Community of Madrid and Madrid Digital, with which we are making progress in developing the digital workplace for civil servants and improving their efficiency to improve digital services for citizens, as well as on security, accessibility and flexibility of the region’s digital infrastructures. In the Community of Madrid, we are working with Microsoft on the development of several generative AI pilots that will also be located in the new cloud region of Madrid.»
Ubaldo González, CDO of MAPFRE Spain: «For MAPFRE, AI and data are key levers for the fulfillment of our purpose: ‘We take care of what matters to you.” Through more than 90 use cases, today, we are able to sophisticate the identification and management of all the risks that appear throughout the life of our customers. In the case of Spain, having a Microsoft Cloud Region in the country, with the help of Capgemini, will allow us to access our data and AI in an easier and more efficient way, as well as being a key lever for compliance with our demanding standards, both regulatory and sustainability and responsibility».
Rafael Blesa, General Manager of Information Systems at Naturgy: «At Naturgy we believe that, given that the business is becoming more complex every day and the customers are becoming more demanding, we have to rely on digitalization to improve and provide a better quality of service, at a more competitive price. And one of the vectors for this is the massive deployment of cloud structures. Microsoft helps us, both from the workplace and also with all the capabilities of the cloud, innovation and hopefully, soon, generative AI. The opening of Microsoft’s Cloud Region in Spain is essential for us because we provide a critical and essential service for our society».
Jaime Ron, CEO of Prosegur Tech: «Microsoft’s new cloud region in Spain helps us to improve scalability, both horizontally and vertically. In addition, the security, privacy and ethics that we apply in the use of AI is fundamental, so having the data here, both for us at Prosegur Tech and for our customers, makes us super calm».
Fidel Fernández, Director of Technologies and IT Transformation at Telefónica Spain: “The Microsoft cloud region in Spain is extremely important for Telefónica. Tactically, we will be able to decisively and rapidly transform the most demanding applications in terms of performance. Structurally, with the help of disruptive technologies like AI and Edge Computing, we can increase our level of ambition and go a bit further. We have already been working on an Early Adopter Program, in which we have been fortunate to participate from the beginning with the Microsoft team. In the short term, we have extremely important projects, both in the field of automation and in enhancing AI use cases.”
Customers already using the new cloud region include (among others): Abanca, Aciturri, Banc Sabadell, Banco Santander, Bankinter, BBVA, CaixaBank, Canal de Isabel II, CELSA, Codere, Comunidad de Madrid, Grupo Catalana Occidente, Ibercaja, Ilunion, Metrovacesa, Mutua Madrileña, Naturgy, Navantia, Pelayo, Prosegur, Repsol, Ribera Salud, SegurCaixa Adeslas, Tecnicas Reunidas and Velilla. In addition, software developers (ISVs) such as Barracuda, Citrix, NetApp, OpenAI, Palantir, SAP, Veeam, Vmware or Zertia are also making use of Microsoft’s new infrastructure in Spain.
In recent months, ten Microsoft partners (Accenture, Capgemini, DXC, Fujitsu, Indra-Minsait, KPMG, Kyndryl, NTT DATA, SEIDOR and Telefónica Tech) have joined the Microsoft Spain Cloud Region Strategic Partner Program, developed to accelerate digital transformation of Spanish organizations and support them in migrating their workloads to the new Spain Central datacenter region. (Read about our partners’ commitment to the new cloud region in the appendix 2).
Sustainable by design
Microsoft datacenters located in Madrid are designed to achieve a power usage effectiveness (PUE) that reach 1.12. Microsoft datacenters are designed to meet LEED Gold standards, a globally recognized rating for green buildings that meet specific sustainability and environmental performance criteria. Our datacenters are designed for our backup generators to be powered by a renewable biofuel that reduces net carbon emissions. Microsoft will use direct evaporative cooling at our Spain datacenter. This method of cooling uses outside air, reducing cooling water use around 15% of the operation time.
Mindful that the expansion of our business must be done in a manner consistent with protecting the environment, we are investing in renewable energy. With Repsol, we have executed six VPPAs linked to three wind farms and three solar plants in Spain with a total installed capacity of 230 MW, which we expect to have online by the end of 2025. This agreement adds to the existing PPAs as part of the Repsol partnership that was announced in 2021, reaching an overall total of 320MW of installed capacity. The partnership includes an agreement to co-innovate on solutions to transform the energy industry accelerating Repsol’s digital transformation and supplying renewable power to Microsoft operations.
Microsoft’s sustainability targets include 100% supply of renewable energy for the company’s buildings and datacenters by 2025, water positive by 2030, and zero waste by 2030. These initiatives demonstrate a mutual goal for environmental sustainability and a more resource-efficient future.
Talent and community development
The development of the AI Economy requires the best talent available. Currently, Spain ranks fourth in Europe in the adoption of Generative AI, however, it ranks fourteenth in the availability of people trained in these technologies. As part of its commitment to the development of digital talent in Spain, Microsoft has established partnerships with government entities and educational organizations to provide free online training to unemployed individuals, with a significant impact on over 400,000 people.
One of Microsoft’s goals when establishing in a new territory is to have a positive presence, in line with the Datacenter Community Pledge that we unveiled recently that will guide this work globally. We do so by listening to the needs and concerns of local citizens, informing them about our datacenters, engaging in meaningful dialogue and creating shared social value. Community investments are directed towards projects in tech skills and education, environmental sustainability and local empowerment. Microsoft actively contributes to community growth by investing in technology education, environmental projects, and various local initiatives:
- Training program for unemployed residents in the northern area of the Community of Madrid including more than 120 hours of training on Microsoft Azure and enabling participants to become certified in technologies like cloud or Artificial Intelligence for which there is a high demand in the labor market.
- In partnership with ChangeX, NGO dedicated to neighborhood empowerment, Microsoft launched the 3rd edition of Madrid Community Fund, offering up to €15,000 for local projects in education, digital skills, and sustainability in Algete, Meco and San Sebastian de los Reyes.
- In partnership with local non-profits, Microsoft helped reforestation in Madrid’s north and east regions by planting 13,340 trees, contributing to a significant CO2 offset. Additionally, a collaboration with Aganova introduces a pioneering water replenishment project in Spain, leveraging AI for sustainable water management
In addition to the opening of this Spain central cloud region, Microsoft is moving forward with the construction of additional data centers located in Algete, Meco and San Sebastián de los Reyes, which will be inaugurated soon. Furthermore, the company has announced its intention to build a new Data Center Campus in Aragon.
An innovative infrastructure providing the highest level of data sovereignty requirements
Microsoft’s cloud region located in the Community of Madrid, and technically called «Spain Central», encompasses a growing number of data centers that offer the most advanced AI and public cloud technologies to customers in Spain and the rest of Europe. The Spain Central datacenter region is made up of three Availability Zones, providing independent power, cooling, and networking, giving customers options in meeting their high availability needs.
The architecture of the region groups the multiple data centers into three distinct Availability Zones. This type of architecture, in connection with the rest of Microsoft’s cloud regions, enables the broadest high availability configurations that technology allows today. Communication between the different data centers and Availability Zones is always redundant and with very low-latency times. The cloud region is connected to Microsoft’s network, which is made up of high-speed lines and submarine cables, and which confirms one of the most extensive private networks in the world.
The new Spain Central region has already been certified by the CCN-CERT for the National Security Scheme (ENS) at its High Level. This certification includes more than 170 cloud services in Azure, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, and Power Platform suite of services, including Microsoft Azure AI Studio and all AI services on Azure, as well as the AI-powered security solution, Microsoft Copilot for Security
Customer References (Videos)
CELSA-SEIDOR
Madrid Digital-Fujitsu
MAPFRE-Capgemini
Naturgy
Prosegur Tech
Telefónica España
Microsoft Spain Cloud Region Strategic Partners program
Accenture | Manuel López Ordoñez, managing director of Cloud at Accenture in Spain and Portugal. “Accenture uses its industry and technology experience to unleash the full power of Microsoft cloud for our clients. Microsoft’s cloud region offers a new option for our local clients and can help provide the compliance needed to meet their security and continuity requirements.”
Capgemini | Ramón Pérez Blanco, Head of sales and porftolio at Capgemini in Spain: «Capgemini’s joining the Microsoft Spain Cloud Region Program reinforces the strategic alliance between Capgemini and Microsoft in the Spanish market. Through its expertise in key industries in Spain, Capgemini offers specific solutions to organizations, enabling them to take full advantage of the Microsoft’s cloud platforms potential to accelerate their innovation roadmap towards a smarter industry».
DXC Technology | Alfonso Garcia, President and CEO of DXC Technology: «From a business point of view, having a cloud region in Spain empowers enterprises to unlock new potentials, drive efficiency, and stay competitive in an increasingly digital landscape.»
Fujitsu | Patricia Urbez, Head of Public Sector at Fujitsu: «For Fujitsu, it represents a business opportunity but also a development and training opportunity for the technology sector and of course a lever for economic growth for our country.»
KPMG | Roberto Jiménez, Head of Microsoft Alliance at KPMG Spain: «It will accelerate use cases in which response time is relevant, for example, in the use of native generative Artificial Intelligence in business applications.»
Kyndryl | Noel Bravo, VP Cloud & Partnerships at, Kyndryl. “The Azure Spain region will be key for Kyndryl’s customers. The combination of Azure technology in Spain, with Kyndryl’s integration and transformation capabilities, will be an accelerator of innovation in our industry, guaranteeing a more efficient and satisfying user experience.”
Minsait | Javier Muñoz Lagarón, Global Head Cloud at Minsait: «A local region gives us much more speed in the interaction between data and processes powered by AI algorithms, which helps us to incorporate new solutions in environments where we could not until now.»
NTT Data | Carlos Valero, Head of Infrastructure Cloud Services at NTT Data: «The new Azure Region accelerates data platform modernization and catalyzes the adoption of Generative AI, guaranteeing our customers a distinct competitive advantage.”
Seidor | Eduard Bonet, Head of Cloud at Seidor: «The proximity of the new cloud regions will allow us to create high-availability architectures where RPO and RTO parameters are minimized.»
Telefónica Tech | Alberto Sempere, director de Servicios, Innovación y Partnerships en Telefónica Tech: «This is a great milestone for our customers, bringing data and services closer to them. This is going to result in two things: a better user experience and data sovereignty.»
