Within the framework of the Aotec 2025 Fair, Asteo Red Neutra organized the meeting “Data Center Connectivity as Value to the Country’s Ecosystem” to reflect on the strategic role of data centers in Spain and their potential to strengthen the country’s technological competitiveness. The conversation brought together Manuel Garnelo, CTO of Asteo, along with Francisco Porras, head of the data center business unit at Merlin Properties, and Félix de la Fuente, Chief Commercial Officer of Templus. This is part of the special episodes of the podcast Connecting RURAL to the world, which you can watch and listen to on Spotify and YouTube.
Critical Infrastructures and Complementary Models
In the event’s presentation, Manuel Garnelo emphasized that, although citizens use the internet daily, few are aware of the critical infrastructures that make it possible. He highlighted two main aspects of the companies present at the meeting: Templus’s regional focus and Merlin Properties’ commitment to large, sustainable data centers.
Félix de la Fuente explained that Templus was founded with the aim of deploying regional data centers, away from the traditional Madrid-Barcelona axis, with the goal of bringing advanced technological capabilities to less obvious territories. He noted that this model allows for talent retention, strengthening the local business fabric, and reducing the technological gap.
For his part, Paco Porras detailed that Merlin Properties’ model is oriented towards large-scale infrastructures, designed for global clients, especially those linked to artificial intelligence model training. These centers do not depend on proximity to the end consumer but on the ability to offer energy and space on a large scale.
Both agreed that their proposals are not opposing but complementary, responding to different market needs.
Edge, Regional, and Large Centers: A Logistics Chain
The discussion brought up the differentiation between edge data centers, regional, and large centers. De la Fuente explained that edge centers respond to very specific uses—such as IoT, industrial automation, or smart cities—where low latency is crucial. Regional centers, on the other hand, serve as a bridge between these facilities and large hubs.
Porras drew an analogy with logistics: fiber optic cables are the roads and data are the containers. Just as in transport there are last-mile warehouses and long-haul depots, data centers coexist with models of different scales and functions.
Spain, a Strategic Position
A central part of the conversation revolved around Spain’s role in the international connectivity map. Garnelo recalled that the peninsula is a landing point for multiple submarine cables connecting America, Africa, and Europe.
Porras highlighted that the country has a privileged location, with 70% of traffic between the United States and Europe passing through Spanish territory, and with a promising future on the north-south axis towards Africa, a continent undergoing rapid demographic and digital expansion. Furthermore, Spain has abundant space for construction and a significant energy surplus that can become a competitive advantage for this industry.
De la Fuente reinforced this idea by pointing out that the country should aspire not only to be a data corridor but a generator and processor of information, leveraging its renewable energy mix and its position at the center of international flows.
Industry, Regulation, and Opportunities
Both speakers agreed that data centers should be considered a strategic industry. Porras emphasized that they generate highly skilled employment and that their contribution can be comparable to other exporting industrial activities. De la Fuente added that regulatory stability is key to attracting investment: without a clear framework, Spain risks becoming merely a transit territory.
Regarding location selection, Porras explained that Merlin opts for sites with access to submarine cables and energy availability, often in rural areas with a surplus of renewable generation, which in turn boosts local industrialization. De la Fuente, for his part, noted that Templus seeks a balance between energy, communications, land, and proximity, ensuring that its facilities are a reasonable distance from its clients’ technical teams.
A Country Opportunity
The session concluded with a shared idea: Spain has a unique window of opportunity to consolidate itself as a European benchmark in data centers. But this advantage will only materialize if the different actors in the sector, together with public administrations, work in a coordinated manner to retain data, transform it into value, and prevent it from merely passing through the country’s network of cables.
As Manuel Garnelo summarized, it is about avoiding the “bypass” of data and ensuring that it generates wealth and innovation in the territory. Spain faces the challenge of transforming from a transit node into a digital engine.
