European Commission clears Spanish AI gigafactory consortium

The European Commission has cleared a joint venture formed by ACS, Telefónica, Banco Santander and Spain’s state-owned SETT, also known as Sociedad Española para la Transformación Tecnológica or “Digital SEPI,” under EU merger rules.

Brussels found the transaction raised no competition concerns because of the limited market share of the companies involved, allowing the review to proceed through a simplified process. The consortium plans to bid under the EU’s AI Gigafactories Initiative, which is intended to support large-scale sovereign cloud and AI infrastructure across member states.

The Spanish government has authorized a €719 million public investment through the Ministry for Digital Transformation. Banco Santander, ACS and Telefónica will hold a combined 47% stake, with each taking 15.67%, alongside the Spanish state through SETT. Spain’s proposal is structured around multiple locations, with sites planned for Móra la Nova in Tarragona and San Fernando de Henares in Madrid.