The Spanish government selects Móra la Nova as a candidate for a European AI gigafactory.

MadridThe Spanish government has chosen the Catalan town of Móra la Nova, in the Ribera d'Ebre region, as a candidate to host one of the four artificial intelligence (AI) gigafactories that the European Union wants to develop. The project would be led by the State, the Generalitat (Catalan government), and Telefónica, and involves an investment of approximately €5 billion, as announced. The Vanguard and government sources confirm to ARA. For now, it is a candidacy that Pedro Sánchez's government has presented to Brussels and, therefore, will have to compete with proposals from other states. The project plans to occupy 4 hectares of land, and among the factors that have worked in favor of this enclave are access to energy (electrical capacity), water, and fiber optics, essential for a gigafactory of these characteristics.

The election of Móra la Nova was one of the topics that Pedro Sánchez and Salvador Illa discussed in their surprise meeting this Friday morning at the Moncloa Palace, amid the political crisis over the Cerdán case. In fact, the meeting coincided with the Civil Guard's entry into the Socialist Party's headquarters in Madrid, on Calle Ferraz, as part of the investigation opened by the Supreme Court. The judge has authorized the collection of information from the party's current secretary general, Santos Cerdán.

In a statement, the Spanish government maintains that the planned location for the gigafactory is "a strategic enclave close to the AI factory at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS), a leading European computing node." In fact, the Catalan government explains that the initiative was activated last February and that Móra la Nova is a location that meets all the necessary conditions for a facility of these characteristics, both in terms of land availability and electrical power."

In April, Brussels announced the creation of a €20 billion fund to developAI gigafactories on the Old Continent, thus fostering the strategic autonomy it so yearns for. The European Commission's goal is to boost the AI industry on the community blog and avoid falling too far behind in the AI race, led by powers like the United States and China.

Public-private business consortium

The proposal was submitted by a public-private business consortium led by Telefónica, in collaboration with the Spanish government. Among the already confirmed members of the consortium are—in addition to Telefónica—ACS, MasOrange, Nvidia, Submer, Multiverse Computing, as well as the Spanish Society for Technological Transformation (SETT), the Spanish government's so-called technological SEPI. According to the Moncloa (Spanish Ministry of Finance), "negotiations are also underway to bring in a major international investment partner." If the project is ultimately selected, it will receive funding from the European Commission through the InvestAI program.