“Your cloud dries up my river!” A battle between farmers and data centers over water is raging on the Spanish countryside

An intensely buzz is echoed by rural municipality Villanueva de Gállego in the northern Spanish region of Aragón. The sound – that can be heard day and night – comes from a data center of the American Amazon. Around the white shed the landscape extends: cracked earth, dry grass and deserted fields where almond and olive trees once grew. There is no shade, no green, only the bright sun that burns mercilessly on the land. Inside at the tech giant, millions of liters of water circulate to keep servers cool, while farmers in the neighborhood see their harvest drilling out due to lack of water.

In Spain one data center after the other is opened, presented as a engine of economic progress. These data centers provide digital services such as cloud storage, artificial intelligence and video streaming. In total, Spain has 63, twenty centers are under construction. But resistance is growing among the locals. Because how is it possible that international tech companies gain access to enormous amounts of water, while the inhabitants are subject to strict limitations?

“They steal all the water,” says farmer Chechu, hoisted in a worn green overall. “Due to climate change, it is tackled with our crop every year. But now we also have to compete with billions of companies. That is a struggle that I cannot win as a small farmer.”

750 million liters of water

Amazon has three operational data centers in Aragón, and there are three more. The current three installations are licensed for a water consumption of more than 750 million liters per year, sufficient for thousands of households or the irrigation of 233 hectares of corn, one of the most important crops in the region. At the same time, a data center uses as much electricity as a medium -sized city.

In December Amazon asked permission to increase that water consumption. “Climate change will lead to more hot days, which means that the cooling installations have to run more often,” says the permit application.

Due to climate change, it is tackled with our crop every year. But now we also have to compete with billions of companies

The same climate change makes the situation in the countryside worse: drying rivers, farming loses and in some villages there is no drinking water available in the summer months. “And then Amazon does get a permit to swallow millions of liters a year,” says Aurora Gómez of the organization ‘Tu Nube Seca Mi Río’ (your cloud dries my river). “That is not only ecologically disastrous, it is unjust.”

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Photos Google Earth

In her own region, under Madrid, Gómez saw how tech companies are rapidly bought agricultural land, without consultation with residents. It motivated her to also set up the organization in 2023. “For years, nobody looked around at these regions,” says Gómez. “And now there are suddenly companies such as Amazon and Microsoft on the sidewalk, attracted by cheap land, few regulations and a gray population that can hardly oppose their arrival.”

The speed with which the number of data centers is increasing, is the most care of her. “Amazon never builds one center, but always three at the same time. That has to do with the need for data application. So with each new project you have three times as much water, three times as much power consumption and three times as much impact on the living environment.”

Economic

Aragón presents the arrival of the data centers as an economic blessing. Regional resident Jorge Azcón emphasizes that the investments of Amazon, which can amount to 15.7 billion euros, will not only yield thousands of jobs, but also ensure higher tax revenues, improved infrastructure and extra income from land rental. Microsoft is building a campus – several data centers together – of 9 billion euros. It must be the largest ‘cloud hub’ in Europe, where, among other things, data from OpenAi is stored.

For many residents, those financial promises will sound hollow. “What does it deliver to us? No jobs, no sound nuisance, water shortage and bad harvest,” says farmer Chechu, who points with his earth -discolited fingers to the cracks in the ground. “Only the super rich will benefit from this. The” normal “Spaniard will mainly experience the consequences.”

The worries are heard in Madrid. The government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez supports the digital transition and foreign tech intentions, but emphasizes that they should not be at the expense of water security, stability of the electricity network and environmental obligations.

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Minister José Luis Escrivá (digital transformation) announced at the beginning of this year that the government is working on a new legal framework for data centers with stricter requirements for transparency, energy efficiency and water use. These regulations must be introduced by the end of 2025 at the latest. There will also be national criteria for true and how data centers are allowed to settle, a decision that is now largely left to the regions.

Amazon, Microsoft and Google promise to be ‘water positive’ in 2030.

Amazon,,, Microsoft And Google recognizes in a response to the criticism that their data centers in Spain require a lot of water and energy, but emphasize their commitment in the field of sustainability. The companies promise in 2030 “Water Positive“To be. That’s why they invest in innovative cooling techniques and local water projects to reduce their water and energy consumption. In addition, they say they use 100 percent renewable energy.

Data colonialism

That is not enough for environmental activists. According to Gómez there is “data colonialism.” “As natural resources used to flow from colonies to European capitals, water and energy from our villages now flow to tech giants. And again without having control over it.”

According to her, data centers ensure a form of ‘energetic gentrification’. They use so much power and water that other users are literally repressed, says Gómez and mentions an example. “In Marseille, where data centers are located near the port, for example, there is no longer enough electricity for it Electric buses or fast charging stations. “

According to Gómez, the issue raises the question of what is meant by digital progress. “We don’t want to choose between cat memorial And water. But that is exactly what we stand for now. The cloud seems slightly light, something elusive, but is built on gigantic infrastructure. And the costs for this are shifted to the regions that can afford the least. ” “They build their cloud on our thirst,” says farmer Chechu.

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