Connect | Southern Europe // Invited Regions
Invited Country
At this year’s DCD>Connect Southern Europe, Portugal has been named the Invited Country, a distinction that highlights its rising strategic relevance within the Southern European data center ecosystem.
Portugal’s data center market is experiencing rapid expansion, with installed IT load expected to grow substantially through the end of the decade. According to recent market analysis from Mordor Intelligence, the country’s data center market is projected to nearly double in size between 2025 and 2030, reflecting strong investor confidence and increasing demand for digital infrastructure.
A key driver of this growth is Portugal’s geographic position on the Atlantic coast, which offers significant advantages for global connectivity. The country hosts an expanding network of submarine and terrestrial fibre-optic cables connecting Europe with South America and Africa, delivering competitive latency and robust interconnection capabilities. This connectivity is further strengthened by Portugal’s well-developed renewable energy landscape, supporting sustainable and scalable data center operations.
Together, these factors position Portugal as a vital digital infrastructure gateway in Southern Europe, making it an increasingly attractive destination for international cloud, AI, and connectivity-driven demand.
Invited Region
Southern Europe’s digital infrastructure landscape continues to evolve, and Catalonia has emerged as an increasingly relevant region within this context. For this reason, Catalonia has been selected as the Invited Region at this year’s DCD>Connect Southern Europe, reflecting its growing role within the regional data center ecosystem.
Catalonia’s data center market has shown steady development, supported by ongoing investment, a well-established technology environment, and rising demand for cloud and digital services. The region has strengthened its position as an important digital hub in Southern Europe, with Barcelona recognised as a focal point for colocation and connectivity-driven infrastructure.
Situated in the Mediterranean, Catalonia benefits from a strategic location and a well-developed fibre-optic network that supports regional and international connectivity across Europe and beyond. These structural advantages are complemented by a skilled workforce, an active innovation ecosystem, and increasing attention to energy efficiency and sustainability in infrastructure planning.
Taken together, these factors reinforce Catalonia’s position as a key player in Southern Europe’s digital transformation, presenting the region as a robust and future-ready environment for the continued growth of data centers and digital infrastructure.
