Amazon has announced its latest investment in Spain, confirming this week that it plans to invest 3 billion euros in new data centres in the northern region of Aragón.
The investment will cover the construction and fit out of the centres and create an estimated 1,300 jobs.
The announcement marks almost 10 years of investment in Spain by the US tech giant, during which the company has contributed to the economy by creating jobs, investing in infrastructure and sustainability, along with generating substantial tax revenue.
Amazon’s commitment to Spain is seen as an important driver in helping to transform economies in both urban and rural communities. Its latest investment comes at a time when the economy is eager to recover from the pandemic and return to growth, with a focus on sectors that are expected to expand in future years.
Launched in September 2011, Amazon.es has invested more than 6.8 billion euros in its operations, including constructing logistics centres and corporate offices, along with developing its cloud infrastructure.
Currently, there are 30 Amazon sites in the country, and in 2020 new fulfilment centres were opened in Dos Hermanas in Sevilla and Alcalá de Henares in Madrid. Three delivery centres were also established in Murcia, Rubí in Barcelona and Leganés in Madrid.
Plans for the rest of 2021 include opening more fulfilment centres and delivery stations to increase product selections and improve support for small independent sellers.
As part of the expansion, job creation in communities where Amazon operate is vital to support economic recovery, including in both big cities and smaller towns in the regions.
Developing the tech hubs in Madrid and Barcelona are also a focus for the company, where almost 600 developers, computer engineers and data scientists work on applications for Amazon Business, Kindle technologies, retail and machine learning.
Job creation has been impressive over the last decade, with the local Spanish-based workforce growing to more than 12,000 at the end of 2020.
Speaking about Amazon’s achivements over the last 10 years, Mariangela Marseglia, VP Country Manager for Italy and Spain, said: ‘I’m particularly proud of our growing team and our investments on behalf of customers and how we are supporting thousands of small businesses to contribute to Spain’s recovery, creating thousands of additional jobs and opening up new opportunities of many others in their regions.’
The latest investment announced this week will allow the cloud computing element of the group, Amazon Web Services, to develop with the aim of maintaining its market share in an increasingly competitive sector.
Sustainability is also an important feature of the company’s investments, with plans for each of the data centres to have their own independent power, cooling and security in place.
Amazon already has a solar plant in Zaragoza in the region of Aragón, one of two renewable energy projects in the country that supply renewable energy to Amazon Web Services data centres. With the plant established already, locating the new data centre in the region was a practical next step.
Amazon continues to grow rapidly in Spain, with its services increasing in popularity. In its announcement about the plans, Amazon stated that two thirds of companies listed on the Spanish stock market are already customers.
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