Ecologistas en Acción filed Spain's first data centre lawsuit at TSJ Aragón in April 2026, challenging Amazon Web Services' 30-building campus on grounds including water consumption, electricity demand, and the use of a Programme of General Interest planning instrument that critics say bypassed normal environmental review.Source: Lowdown data-centres briefing

How much water do data centres use in Spain?

Water consumption by data centres is a central issue in the Aragón case. The region is water-stressed; Ecologistas en Acción argues that cooling water demands were not adequately assessed in the planning process for Amazon's 30-building campus.Source: Lowdown data-centres briefing

Who is Ecologistas en Acción and what do they campaign on?

Ecologistas en Acción is one of Spain's largest environmental campaign organisations, a confederation of around 300 local groups. It campaigns on climate, biodiversity, and industrial pollution, and filed Spain's first data-centre lawsuit at TSJ Aragón in April 2026 against Amazon's 30-building Aragón campus.Source: Ecologistas en Acción

Background

Ecologistas en Acción is Spain's principal environmental NGO confederation, a network of around 300 local groups federated under a single national structure. In April 2026 it led the legal Coalition that filed Spain's first data centre lawsuit at the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Aragón (TSJ Aragón), challenging Amazon Web Services' 30-building data centre campus in the Aragón region on grounds including water consumption, electricity demand, and the use of a Programme of General Interest planning instrument that critics say bypasses normal environmental review.

The Aragón campus is Spain's largest planned data centre cluster, spanning locations including Zaragoza, Villanueva de Gállego, and El Burgo de Ebro. Ecologistas en Acción has argued that the scale of water cooling demand — in an already water-stressed region — was not adequately assessed in the planning process, and that the concentration of power demand will strain the Aragonese grid.

The organisation has been active in Spanish environmental politics since 1998 when it merged several predecessor groups. Its litigation strategy has previously targeted infrastructure projects including airports and highways. The data centre case represents the first time the organisation has deployed its legal resources against digital infrastructure, marking a broader shift in European environmental advocacy.