Understanding and resisting Data centers: lessons from Spain

Data centres are multiplying globally and reshaping rural and semi-rural landscapes far from the cities they serve. Behind promises of jobs and digital progress lie enormous demands on electricity grids, water supplies, and land—often decided without the communities that will live with the consequences.

Aotearoa New Zealand faces similar questions: proposals for new data centres and their energy infrastructure are raising critical issues about who benefits, who decides, and who bears the environmental cost. These questions echo longstanding debates over land, water, and indigenous sovereignty.

This lecture draws on lessons from Spanish activism and resistance to explore how communities can engage with and shape these decisions.