US tech giant Microsoft has unveiled plans to invest €6.69 billion over the next decade to build a major new data centre hub in the Spanish region of Aragon.

The investment will see Microsoft construct cloud computing data centres on a site outside the city of Zaragoza, according to the regional government.

The announcement comes hot on the heels of Microsoft revealing a €2.1 billion investment in data centres in the Madrid area last month. The company's cloud infrastructure plans in Spain are expected to add over €10.7 billion to the national GDP and create close to 77,000 new jobs by 2030.

"Microsoft's datacenter infrastructure in Spain will play a pivotal role in our European AI strategy," said Jean-Philippe Courtois, Microsoft's president of national transformation partnerships. "This new cloud region will support and stimulate economic growth for customers and partners."

Microsoft is the latest major cloud provider to target investment in Aragon after rival Amazon's cloud computing arm AWS announced plans last month to pour €15.7 billion into building data centres in the region over 10 years. Both companies have been attracted by Aragon's large renewable wind energy capacity to power their facilities.

The investment decisions highlight how Aragon, and its capital Zaragoza in particular, is emerging as a cloud computing hub within Europe. As Alberto Granados, Microsoft's Spain manager, noted: "We are committed to supporting Spain...by delivering a data centre infrastructure that provides the most innovative cloud and AI services."

Zaragoza's strategic location halfway between Madrid and Barcelona makes it an ideal logistics hub, said Joan Ral Gene, CIO of steel firm CELSA Group who welcomed the investment. He said: "The new Microsoft Cloud Region allows us to deploy services within the same region and reinforces data security and sovereignty."

Aragon's regional minister for digital transformation, Mayte Perez, added: "This investment endorses our digital strategy and underlines our vision as a leader in sustainability and technology."

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