A coalition led by Ecologistas en Acción filed Spain's first data centre lawsuit at the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Aragón in January 2026, challenging the regional government's agreement with Amazon for 30 data centre buildings and 10 electrical substations across Huesca, Villanueva de Gállego, El Burgo de Ebro, and Zaragoza, on grounds of projected water consumption and medium-voltage infrastructure development.1 Aragón is now Spain's largest data centre hub, surpassing Lisbon.
Ecologistas en Acción is Spain's largest federation of environmental organisations, founded in 1998 from a merger of roughly 300 regional groups. The Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Aragón is the regional high court for the Spanish autonomous community of Aragón, the body with jurisdiction over administrative challenges to regional government decisions. The legal instrument under challenge is a Programme of General Interest, a Spanish planning designation that authorises infrastructure projects judged to serve the common interest under expedited approval procedures. The Aragón programme runs land acquisition through 2026, construction 2027 to 2031, and final completion 2031 to 2036.
Ecologistas en Acción brought the case on administrative law grounds. The plaintiffs argue that the regional government's environmental impact assessment understated water demand and that the medium-voltage infrastructure required for the build was not properly itemised in the original Programme of General Interest authorisation. If the court admits the case for substantive hearing, the next stage would compel the regional government to defend its impact assessment in detail. A ruling against the regional government would not stop the build but would require re-authorisation under the more rigorous procedure.
The Ecologistas filing is the first European court action against a hyperscaler campus to clear the procedural threshold for hearing. Prior European opposition to data centres has been planning-objection, regulatory-consultation, and street-protest in form. A formal court challenge sets a precedent other coalitions can copy. The Amazon Aragón agreement, signed at speed under the regional government's pro-investment posture, is now the test case for whether the Programme of General Interest instrument can survive judicial scrutiny when used at hyperscaler scale.
