AWS data center in Seville to use as much power as Zaragoza

The AWS data center at La Cartuja will devour as much electricity as Zaragoza
A blunt claim: the data center Amazon Web Services (AWS) plans to build at La Cartuja in Seville will consume as much electricity as the entire city of Zaragoza. The figure, reported by the local press, has peine the debate over the energy and environmental cost of artificial intelligence. But it needs some nuance: this is not an isolated fact, but the tip of the iceberg of a model that is growing without restraint.

The energy impact of AI
Generative artificial intelligence requires a staggering amount of computing power. Every query to a model like GPT consumes dozens of times more energy than a traditional search. Data centers are the new energy wells. And the one at La Cartuja will be no small affair: comparing its consumption to that of a provincial capital like Zaragoza gives a sense of the scale. Some see in this a conspiracy to create scarcity and drive up energy prices, or an unproductive use of resources. But the data is stubborn: data centers' electricity demand is growing at double-digit rates every year.

Water and solar panels: the other bills
Beyond electricity, data centers consume enormous amounts of water for cooling. In a context of structural drought, the debate intensifies: "water will be worth more than gold," the warning goes. And a paradox emerges: while millions of solar panels are being installed —many in agricultural areas— and fires burn unchecked, these megaprojects move ahead. A critical current argues that the renewable rollout is serving tech companies' demand, not the ecological transition.

The political and social front taking shape
The news has not gone unnoticed. According to Público, Gómez and Valverde —two people whose detailed analysis of technical reports led to formal objections against the AWS complex— have sown the seed of the first organized movement in Spain against data centers in the era of generative AI. The opposition is organized around energy consumption, water use and the lack of transparency. A front that promises to grow.

A prediction with caveats: This energy-unsustainable growth model will eventually collide with the reality of supply. Or it won't. It depends on whether renewables can keep growing at the pace data centers demand. For now, AI's energy bill has only one sign: more.