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New 7.5 billion investment for Blackstone data center campus in Aragón

The President of the regional Government of Aragón, Jorge Azcón, announced the approval this Monday by the Governing Council of a Declaration of Autonomic Interest with General Interest (DIGA) that will allow the promotion of a new 224-hectare data center campus that Blackstone, one of the world’s largest investment firms, intends to develop in the Zaragoza town of Calatorao.

The proposed development represents an important business investment of up to 7.5 billion Euros, with a potential contribution of between 16.5 and 25.45 billion Euros to Aragon’s Gross Domestic Product over the next 25 years.

As explained by the head of the regional Executive during the presentation of this initiative, which took place in the Crown Hall of the Pignatelli building, headquarters of the Government of Aragon.

The planned investment will be made in the municipality of Calatorao, in industrial land located next to the A-2 motorway, seven kilometers from the urban center of Calatorao and in the area of influence of municipalities such as Lucena de Jalón, Épila or La Muela.

The project can generate up to 1,400 direct jobs in Calatorao and its surroundings in the technology and construction sectors.

“Without a doubt, Blackstone has been able to glimpse the immense potential that Aragón has. This great company is aware that no other territory in Europe has the conditions to host data center campuses in the way that Aragon does”, said Azcón.

The Aragonese president remarked the ‘great project’ of the company in ‘a strategic sector for the future’ and recalled that this bet responds to the fact that ‘Aragon has the talent, a privileged geographical location, an enviable ability to generate clean energy, natural resources, industrial land in large quantities and at a very competitive price and an unalterable social peace’.

Blackstone sources have expressed their satisfaction at being able to land in the autonomous community: “We are delighted with this announcement and to be able to work with the Government of Aragon and the rest of the parties involved in this project.

About Blackstone

Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative asset manager. The firm seeks to deliver attractive returns to institutional and individual investors by strengthening the companies in which it invests.

Its assets under management, in excess of $1 trillion, include global investment strategies focused on real estate, private equity, infrastructure, life sciences, growth equity, credit, real assets, secondary assets and hedge funds.

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ICT Sin categoría

New 15.7 billion euro investment by Amazon Web Services to expand its data centres in Aragon

The Amazon Web Services project will support the creation of 6,800 full-time jobs annually in Aragon between 2024 and 2033. 
The President of the Government of Aragon, Jorge Azcón, announced this Wednesday the investment of 15.7 billion euros that Amazon Web Services (AWS) is going to make through its Cloud Region, located in Aragon, between 2024 and 2033, to expand its availability areas in the region, the largest economic investment by a company in the history of the autonomous region and the largest technological investment in Spain and southern Europe to date.  

In the words of the head of the regional government, ‘this new investment by AWS positions Aragon not only as a technological power in Spain, but also as a technological hub of the first order on a continental and global level’. 

Over the next decade, this project will support the creation of 17,500 full-time jobs per year in Spain, of which 6,800 will remain in Aragon. Of course, these new jobs will have an impact on the technology sector, but also on other economic areas of the autonomous community, which will benefit from the tractor effect of this initiative.  

The impact of this investment on Aragon’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will be colossal, around 12,900 million euros (of the 21,600 million euros expected to have an impact on Spain’s GDP), according to initial estimates. This figure is equivalent to more than 30% of Aragon’s current GDP which, at the end of 2022, the latest figure available, totalled 41,763 million euros. 

Also speaking at the announcement event was Suzana Curic, Managing Director of AWS in Spain and Portugal, who said: ‘Aragon was always our winning horse when we were considering where to locate our Region and our data centres. The availability of land, access to sustainable energy sources, a solid and consolidated business network, local talent and the huge growth potential were the main reasons why we had to be here. A year and a half after the opening of our centres, and with this new investment we are announcing today, we at AWS reinforce our commitment to Aragon and its people, as well as to Spain’. 

After announcing the investment, Azcón thanked Amazon Web Services for its decision to ‘choose our region to develop this historic project’. ‘Thank you for driving the transformation of our economy towards a more technological and sustainable model with such a promising future,’ he added. 

The president also congratulated the company ‘for having chosen the best possible place’. ‘Aragon has the talent, the natural resources, an international vocation and the privileged position to lead the changes that are going to shape our society’, he added. 

‘The Government of Aragon applauds your commitment and we will redouble our efforts to lead the European technology sector. We are going to do this through education, by multiplying the number of university places and vocational training degrees that are most in demand by companies. And, of course, as we announced last week, we are going to promote business activity related to technology through a large technology park of more than 40 hectares in Zaragoza that will come into being soon”, he added. 

AWS also highlighted its commitment to the training of talent and the
creation of technological jobs, recalling some of the different initiatives underway in Aragon, such as its Think Big Space programme to train students from local schools, or the different educational programmes available at a national level to help all kinds of audiences, from unemployed people looking to retrain, to more technical profiles who want to specialise, including programmes focused on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) initiatives to inspire young people to pursue technical studies in the future. 

The immense technological potential of Aragon 

President Azcón wanted to highlight that this new investment by Amazon Web Services responds to ‘the incredible potential of our land’. ‘Our geographical position allows us to be one of the main logistic hubs at national and European level and we have exceptional natural resources, which allow us to lead the generation of renewable energies’, he said. 

Furthermore, Aragon ‘enjoys a consolidated social peace, the same peace that has helped us decade after decade to grow within the competitive industrial market, because in Aragon we are all on the same side, on the side of dialogue and progress, of growth’. 

Source: Aragonhoy

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ICT

Microsoft announces its intention to build a data centre campus in Aragon to provide intelligent cloud services to European companies and public organisations

This new investment project by the company in Spain is in addition to the one already undertaken for the creation of Microsoft’s data centre region in Madrid, which will be available in the coming months. 
Microsoft’s planned new infrastructure in Spain could add 8.4 billion euros to national GDP and contribute to the creation of 69,000 indirect jobs in the period 2026 – 2030, according to an IDC analysis. 

Source: Microsoft

Microsoft plans to build a data centre campus in Aragon to provide cloud services to European companies and public bodies. The new infrastructure will add to the investment the company has made for the implementation of Microsoft’s data centre region in Madrid, which will be available in the coming months, and will offer all of Microsoft’s intelligent cloud services (Microsoft Azure, Microsoft 365, Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform) to private and public customers in Europe, meeting regulatory, compliance and data sovereignty requirements. 

The campus that Microsoft plans to build will be a catalyst for innovation, economic growth and job creation in Aragon and the rest of Spain, helping to accelerate the digitisation of public and private organisations of all sizes and industries and driving the growth of the technology industry in Spain. According to an IDC analysis, the new data centre campus could add €8.4 billion to Spanish GDP and contribute to the creation of 69,000 indirect jobs in the period 2026 – 2030. 

Aragón, home to the new Project 

Aragon has positioned itself as one of the most important regions in Europe for the implementation of data centres, thanks to the availability of highly qualified talent, public support for innovation projects, the existence of high quality infrastructure, available land, and its geographical location. Microsoft’s project will foster innovation and the growth of the local technology industry in Aragon, where Microsoft has more than 300 companies in its ecosystem of technology partners. According to IDC, Microsoft’s data centre campus project could add 264 million euros to regional GDP and contribute to the creation of more than 2,100 technology jobs in Aragon between 2026 and 2030. 

“It fills me with great satisfaction that Aragón is consolidating its position as one of the leading European regions in a cutting-edge and strategic technological sector for the development of digitalisation and business innovation. The Microsoft project is a new incentive to Aragon’s vocation for attracting companies, especially those that, due to their international relevance and innovative nature, represent an extraordinary added value to the economy and the generation of wealth in our Autonomous Community.”

“The Government of Aragon is going to make every effort to implement this type of investment projects in the Autonomous Community, which will make a difference in generating a cutting-edge, highly technological economy and creating skilled jobs.” 

Jorge Azcón, President of the Government of Aragon

“Microsoft’s new investments in Spain will enable us to provide intelligent cloud solutions and services to businesses and public entities in Europe, fostering the digital transformation of businesses and public entities, driving innovation and contributing to the generation of new jobs in the technology sector in Aragon and the rest of Spain. We will work closely with national and regional governments and local authorities in building the data centre campus to ensure that people, businesses and society can take full advantage of the benefits of a digital world.”

Alberto Granados, president of Microsoft Spain