Overview
- The government announced €180 million in grants managed by Red.es to support 372 AI projects split between RedIA (130 million) and RedIA Salud (50 million).
- RedIA selected 300 business projects from over 1,000 applicants, about 70% from small and medium enterprises, with awards ranging from €400,000 to €5 million; RedIA Salud will fund 72 health projects across clinical, biomedical and emergency applications.
- A real decreto now sets sustainability, resilience and digital sovereignty requirements for data centers, which the sector group SpainDC warns could wipe out up to 90% of planned investment.
- The government says there will be no moratorium on data centers and has formally applied to host an EU AI gigafactory backed by SETT and private partners including Banco Santander, Telefónica and ACS at candidate sites in Móra la Nova and San Fernando de Henares.
- The plan could speed AI adoption among businesses and health providers while creating friction over infrastructure investment and energy demand, making Brussels’ decision on the gigafactory and industry reactions key near-term developments.