Amazon’s new data center will be installed in La Puebla de Híjar
AWS, Amazon Web Services, has chosen La Puebla de Híjar (935 inhabitants) to build its first data center in the province of Teruel. The multinational has secured 70 hectares next to the N-232 and plans to start works in autumn 2027, as reported Aragon Newsdependent on the public body CARTV. Why is it important. The project places a province historically relegated on the European technological map and confirms the strategy of Aragon as hub of digital infrastructure. With 100 MW of power already guaranteed and access to the water of the Ebro and the Gaén canal, the complex specialized in AI thus avoids electrical saturation problems that grip the metropolitan area of Zaragoza. The figure. The investment is around 5,000 million euros, according to sources in the technology sector consulted by local media such as Teruel Diary. It would be the fourth main AWS hub in the community, after Huesca, Villanueva de Gállego and El Burgo de Ebro. The context. Aragón has managed to mobilize more than 47,000 million euros in data centers, according to a study by the Basilio Paraíso Foundation presented in September. The community could become the third European market in the sector, only behind London and Frankfurt. Bigger words. Yes, but. The project arrives surrounded by conflicts regarding water supply: Amazon needs 350,000 cubic meters of water per year for cooling, and although it plans to draw directly from the Ebro, it requires a backup source. Negotiations with the community of Gaén irrigators have been stuck for months. The irrigators insist that they will not take “any step” that compromises the territory’s water future. Between the lines. The choice of Teruel is not accidental. The metropolitan area of Zaragoza suffers a collapse in the capacity of its electrical substations that has slowed down other projects. The availability of energy (100 MW through the Endesa network with connection to the Híjar substation) has been decisive. What has Aragón done to become a leader? The community has developed a recruitment strategy based on three pillars: Energy availability: Aragon has prioritized the reserve of electrical capacity for strategic industrial projects. Administrative streamlining: the figure of the Declaration of General Interest of Aragon (DIGA) allows these megaprojects to be processed as Plans of General Interest, shortening bureaucratic deadlines. It already happened with Stellantis and CATLand with Microsoft. Logistics infrastructure: The N-232 functions as a backbone, connecting the data centers from Huesca to Bajo Martín. The money trail. AWS has already mobilized more than 15,000 million euros in Aragonwith a forecast of creating 6,800 direct jobs. Companies such as Microsoft, QTS and the Aragonese company Forestalia have also opted for the region. Only Forestalia has planned invest an additional 12 billion in three new centers in Magallón, Botorrita and Alfamén. And now what. AWS must present the documentation for the DIGA to the regional government. The British engineering company Arup, in charge of the project, will finalize the application in the coming weeks. The final agreement on water with the irrigators remains pending, an obstacle that may delay the planned schedule. The project will transform the Venta del Barro industrial estate, which already employs a thousand people from the Bajo Aragón regions. In Xataka | The problem with data centers is not that they are running out of water or energy: it is that they are running out of copper Featured image | The Puebla de Híjar
