Nabiax Breaks Ground on 100MW Madrid Data Center, Targeting 135MW Across Spain

Spanish data center operator Nabiax has commenced construction on a new hyperscale facility in Madrid, laying the cornerstone for Alcalá Data Center 3 (ADC3) in the municipality of Alcalá de Henares. The project represents an investment of nearly €800 million ($918 million) and will gradually add up to 100MW of IT capacity through 2029, completing the company's existing Alcalá campus.

The new facility is designed to serve hyperscale customers, cloud service providers, and artificial intelligence workloads. Upon full buildout, Nabiax will reach 135MW of installed IT power in Spain across its Madrid campuses and facilities in Catalonia. The company currently operates ADC1, which launched in 2013 with 4,800 square meters (51,666 square feet), and ADC2, which opened in 2022 with 6,000 square meters (64,583 square feet), together totaling 22MW. Nabiax also runs the 10MW Julián Camarillo Data Center near Madrid and a 1.3MW facility in Terrassa, outside Barcelona.

Nabiax CEO Pablo Ruiz-Escribano emphasized the growing criticality of data centers to the digital economy, stating that they have become essential infrastructure and "the home of artificial intelligence," supporting applications ranging from medical research to public services. He positioned the project within Spain's broader ambition to establish itself as a European digital hub, citing the country's energy resources, connectivity, talent pool, and geographic advantages. The facility will employ a closed-loop cooling system as part of its sustainability design.

The project includes a collaboration with the University of Alcalá (UAH) to promote scholarships, internships, and research, aimed at attracting locally trained talent to the digital infrastructure sector. Ruiz-Escribano also called for regulatory frameworks that balance sustainability goals with investment protection and legal certainty, distinguishing between mature projects with approved financing and licenses and new developments. Isabel Díaz Ayuso, President of the Community of Madrid, echoed the need for a stable regulatory environment, noting that Madrid currently hosts 58 data center projects — 41 operational, 15 under construction — with an additional portfolio of 40 projects representing approximately €15 billion ($17.1 billion) in investment.

The groundbreaking marks a significant milestone for Nabiax, which was created in 2019 by Asterion Industrial Partners through the acquisition of 11 data centers across Spain and Latin America from Telefónica. Telefónica later contributed three additional assets in exchange for a 20 percent stake in 2021. Nabiax sold its Latin American data centers to Actis in 2023, and Keppel-linked European asset management firm Aermont acquired the company in 2024. The ADC3 project underscores the accelerating demand for AI-ready data center capacity across Europe and Spain's emergence as a key digital infrastructure market.