Without tech companies and data centres we will just be a theme park for tourists with the poorly paid, precarious hospitality jobs that go along with that.
Maybe. Tech companies might have some good jobs for a while. But they will continue to transfer their profits to their parent companies in the US (and/or some tax shelter somewhere).
> and data centres
Data centres employ very few people. Pretty much exclusively during construction. Once operational, very little actual labour is required. Mostly maintenance.
> we will just be a theme park for tourists with the poorly paid, precarious hospitality jobs that go along with that.
No more poorly paid or precarious than a data centre job for Big Tech, I would imagine.
I agree with the sentiment that Spain (and much of Europe, really) needs a big economic boost beyond tourism. But AI fueled data centres ain't it.
It wants to keep industrial water use away without even having a discussion about water allocation/price. This is because farmers (all around the world tbh) are getting an insanely good deal right now (on water), and any public discussion of water price is only ever gonna make things worse for them.
Since when was Aragon ever a tourist hotspot? As far as I know (as another "actual" Spain resident), tourists flock to the coastal areas and the islands (and for some reason, Madrid), not to the inner-mainland like Teruel and Zaragoza.
But Zaragoza is quite touristic, although probably mostly domestic tourism.
Data centres are even worse - they need only a handful of staff members while draining incredible amounts of energy and water.
You live in Spain - why not advocate for boosting the energy sector, better grid infrastructure, more renewables, etc.? This would harness a tangible, sustainable strength of your country within the EU and, considering the blackout last month, is definitely something to work on before any tech company or datacentre can settle in Spain ...