--- title: "Government allocates €180 million to AI projects in companies and defends control of data centres — Marsanne Studio AI watch" description: "The Spanish government is allocating €180 million to 372 corporate AI projects, 70% of them from SMEs, and is defending its bid for a European gigafactoría." url: "https://marsanne.studio/en/ai-watch/government-allocates-180-million-to-ai-projects-in-companies-and-ce962f/" lang: "en" --- [Marsanne Studio](https://marsanne.studio/en/) [← Back to home](https://marsanne.studio/en/ai-watch) [← The AI watch](https://marsanne.studio/en/ai-watch) Regulation · 31 August 2026 # Government allocates €180 million to AI projects in companies and defends control of data centres Original title, in Spanish: “El Gobierno reparte 180 millones para proyectos de IA en empresas y defiende el control de los centros de datos” **Publication** elDiario.es (Spain) · subscribers only **Author** [Carlos del Castillo](https://www.eldiario.es/autores/carlos_del_castillo/) **Published on** 31 August 2026 · read in the page structured data · updated on 31 August 2026 ## Summary The Spanish government has resolved the Red IA and Red IA Salud calls for projects, distributing €180 million among 372 applications from companies in all autonomous communities, 70% of them SMEs, to integrate AI into the productive fabric. €50 million is earmarked for 72 health projects. Minister Óscar López stated that Spain is ahead of France and Italy in corporate AI adoption, and said he was convinced that Spain will secure one of the European AI gigafactories, a project mobilising more than €4 billion, led by a consortium headed by Telefónica, Banco Santander and ACS that has already received more than €700 million in public funds. The government also defends new regulation of data centres to avoid a speculative bubble and preserve energy sovereignty, citing the examples of Ireland and the United States, where these facilities absorb a growing share of national energy. Summary based on the full text of the article. [Read the article on elDiario.es →](https://www.eldiario.es/tecnologia/gobierno-reparte-180-millones-proyectos-ia-empresas-defiende-control-centros-datos_1_13476087.html) ## Figures cited - 180 EUR million Total amount allocated to corporate AI projects (Red IA and Red IA Salud) Spain > « Son 180 millones que impulsarán proyectos para desarrollar asistentes digitales, gemelos digitales, robótica avanzada, visión artificial o ciberseguridad. » Source: Gobierno de España - 372 applications Company applications selected Spain, all autonomous communities > « seleccionando 372 candidaturas de empresas de todas las comunidades autónomas, el 70% de ellas pymes, para incorporar sistemas de inteligencia artificial al tejido productivo español » Source: Gobierno de España - 70 % Share of SMEs among selected applications Spain > « seleccionando 372 candidaturas de empresas de todas las comunidades autónomas, el 70% de ellas pymes, para incorporar sistemas de inteligencia artificial al tejido productivo español » Source: Gobierno de España - 50 EUR million Amount allocated to AI projects in the healthcare industry Spain, 72 health projects > « Hasta 50 millones de la partida se destinarán a financiar 72 proyectos del ámbito sanitario. » Source: Gobierno de España - 72 projects Number of health projects funded Spain > « Hasta 50 millones de la partida se destinarán a financiar 72 proyectos del ámbito sanitario. » Source: Gobierno de España - 4,000 EUR million Investment mobilised by the European AI gigafactoría project Europe > « Estoy totalmente convencido de que la candidatura española va a ser una de las primeras en las factorías de IA de Europa, un proyecto que va a movilizar más de 4.000 millones de euros » - 700 EUR million Public funds received by the Spanish gigafactoría bid Spain, Telefónica, Banco Santander and ACS consortium > « que ha recibido más de 700 millones de euros públicos, en un consorcio público-privado que lideran Telefónica, el Banco Santander y ACS » - 3 multiplication factor Increase in data centre installation requests over two years Spain, two years > « las peticiones de instalación de estas instalaciones se multiplicaron por tres en dos años » - 23 % Share of national energy absorbed by data centres Ireland, 2026 > « en Irlanda, los centros de datos absorberán este año en torno al 23% de la energía del país y podrían llegar al 32% en 2030 » - 32 % Projected share of national energy absorbed by data centres in 2030 Ireland, 2030 > « en Irlanda, los centros de datos absorberán este año en torno al 23% de la energía del país y podrían llegar al 32% en 2030 » - 27.5 % Share of energy absorbed by data centres in certain states United States, certain states > « En Estados Unidos la cifra ronda entre el 25% y el 30% en algunos estados » - 25 % Public opposition to data centre infrastructure not specified, according to surveys > « disparando la oposición a estas infraestructuras, que ya alcanza un 25% según algunas encuestas » ## Classification **Country** Spain, Ireland, United States **Company size** SMEs, Large companies, All sizes **Industries** Healthcare, pharmaceuticals, social care · Government and local authorities · Software vendors, IT services companies, telecoms · Energy, utilities, environment · All industries, or industry not specified **Companies** Ametic (cited), ACS (cited), Telefónica (cited), Banco Santander (cited) **Keywords** public subsidies, SMEs, AI gigafactoría, data centres, digital health, Spain Entry written by Marsanne Studio from the cited article, with the help of an AI model (claude-sonnet-5). The rights to the article and its illustrations belong to elDiario.es and its author. Entry translated from French by Claude Sonnet 5.5.