Cariñena is a town of about 3,000 inhabitants, excellently communicated by the A23 motorway with both Zaragoza, 50 km, and Valencia, 265 km.

About Box2Bit

Box2bit, founded in 2021, specializes in sustainable data centres, with a goal of 100% renewable energy consumption, and it is present in more than 5 countries.

The Spanish Government has earmarked nearly 30 million euros for the adaptation of 13 tunnels located between Cordoba and the municipality of Santa Cruz de Mudela, as part of the development of the rail highway that will connect Algeciras with Zaragoza. This investment is in addition to the adaptation works already underway on the section between Madrid and Zaragoza, where a total of 78 million euros has been invested. These actions are essential to allow the passage of trains loaded with semi-trailers through the railway network, improving the efficiency of intermodal transport.

With these new investments, the rail highway project has already mobilized more than 315 million euros, approaching the total estimated budget of 468 million euros. The project aims to boost freight transport between southern Europe and the rest of the continent, promoting a sustainable alternative to road transport. It is expected that, once the works are completed, up to six trains per day will be able to run between Algeciras and Zaragoza, also connecting with other ports and strategic regions of the peninsula.

Aragon, a benchmark in logistics and intermodal transport

Aragon has established itself as a key logistics hub in Spain, thanks to its strategic location and robust infrastructure. The region has important logistics platforms, such as the Zaragoza Logistics Platform (PLAZA), which is the largest in Europe and a hub for the distribution of goods by land, air and rail. The connection with the port of Algeciras through the new rail highway strengthens its capacity to attract investment and boost the regional economy.

In addition, the promotion of intermodality facilitates the integration of the different modes of transport, reducing costs and improving the sustainability of trade. Investments in rail infrastructure contribute to reducing dependence on road transport, in line with the objectives of sustainability and reduction of the carbon footprint. All this reinforces the attractiveness of Aragon for companies seeking a strategic base for the distribution of goods at national and European level.

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