The European Commission has approved the creation of a joint venture between ACS, Telefónica, Banco Santander, and SEPI Digital to bid for one of the seven European artificial intelligence (AI) gigafactories that the EU Executive plans to build. The Spanish project, backed by Portugal, features a dual location split between Móra la Nova (Tarragona) and San Fernando de Henares (Madrid).
At the end of July, the EU announced the launch of a tender to establish up to seven AI gigafactories across Europe. The European Executive will keep project submissions open until 12 November, expecting to award the gigafactories “in early 2027,” with construction beginning that same year.
In support of the Spanish bid, the Government committed in mid-June to allocate €719 million to the project, which will be controlled by the private sector. Banco Santander, ACS, and Telefónica will jointly hold a 47% stake in the project, with 15.67% each. Another private company, Multiverse Computing, will hold 4%. Meanwhile, the Spanish Executive, through SEPI, will hold 48%. The remaining 1% will be held by the Regional Government of Catalonia (Generalitat).
The green light from the European Executive has been received with enthusiasm in Móra la Nova, the Catalan town set to host the primary hub of the gigafactory project, which would represent an investment of €5 billion.
