Why do technology giants like Amazon or Microsoft choose Aragón?

It can be said that Aragonese people tend to fail to value the capabilities of an ancient territory and may even undervalue its immense potential . Fortunately, the virtues of the Community to lead the economic transformation of the 21st century are increasingly recognized from outside . It is already the undisputed leader in logistics, it fights in the automotive industry  for a battery gigafactory that consolidates the future, it stands out especially in agribusiness , and now it wants to ride the wave of the technological revolution that is coming in a not very long period of time.

Aragon has been in the news this week almost worldwide for the large investment by Amazon Web Services in its data centers in Huesca, El Burgo de Ebro and Villanueva de Gállego, which represents the largest business injection in the Community and the highest in the sector technology in Europe. An adventure that began in 2019 with the first AWS infrastructures – with an amount of 2,500 million – and continued last October with the Microsoft centers in Zaragoza and La Muela – 2,200 million each -, and waiting for a third , without ruling out that some other technological giant may join.

But what does Aragon have that makes all these large multinational companies decide to settle in this land ? It is no coincidence, far from it, that all these companies are attracted, mainly, by the availability of natural resources that are key for all these facilities , and that emerge as an enormous competitive advantage over other regions.

RENEWABLE ENERGY

Aragón ‘s great capacity to produce renewable energy emerges as one of the Community’s great attractions to lead the economy of the future . Despite criticism for its installation in the territory , including a Commission of Investigation in the Cortes, the availability of cheap wind and photovoltaic energy plays a determining role in the final decision of companies, aware of the direction that global energy policies have taken. reduction of emissions and impact of the carbon footprint. The self-consumption platform announced by Forestalia and CGE, a subsidiary of CATL, will further influence this role.

ACCESS TO WATER

Access to water is just as crucial for technology giants due to the large amount of water that data centers require to cool the immense number of servers they house. The first three data centers have a planned consumption of 36,461 cubic meters per year, which could increase given the expansion of the facilities announced this Wednesday. Amazon Web Services CEO Suzana Curic highlighted the commitment to “ return more water to the community than we use” in infrastructure by 2030.

THE STRATEGIC LOCATION

The Romans did not choose this area of ​​the Ebro Valley by chance. Obviously, they would not know that the city would be at the epicenter of 80% of the national GDP , but the connections with Madrid and Barcelona represent a fundamental aspect in the economy, coming together in a leading logistics in southern Europe and with Plaza as the great crown jewel.

LAND

Likewise, the large area of ​​land available in the Community also favors the location of these large companies, which require significant extensions , such as the 147 hectares that Amazon Web Services is going to acquire in the Empresarium industrial estate. Furthermore, although it is true that the area of ​​Zaragoza – the option usually preferred by companies – has increasingly less land, the latest operations carried out by the Lambán Government in Malpica and in the PTR have made it possible to enable land that was in disuse. .

TALENT

Former President Lambán defined talent as one of the great competitive advantages that was going to make a difference in the coming years, and Azcón does not want to miss the great capabilities of the Aragonese for the economy of the future. The extensions of the Computer Engineering and Mathematics degrees have opened the door to training more professionals in STEM subjects, and collaboration with the University of Zaragoza and the rest of the research centers is key to generating a technological ecosystem in line with the magnitude of investments.

SOCIAL PEACE AND POLITICAL STABILITY

Political stability – beyond specific moments of tension – and the climate of consensus that exists in the Community also favor the attraction of large companies, which prefer to go to a land of peace in the face, for example, of the permanent tension that has lived in Catalonia in the last decade. The work carried out to streamline administrative procedures through declarations of regional interest is another factor that ends up being decisive in the final location.