Submer Group, the Barcelona-founded AI infrastructure company, has announced an investment of more than USD 1.14 billion to construct a next-generation artificial intelligence data center at the former Ercros chemical plant in Flix, a town in the Ribera d'Ebre comarca of northeastern Catalonia.

The project marks one of the most significant data center investments announced in Spain and forms part of a broader effort to reindustrialize a site with deep industrial heritage while positioning Europe as a serious player in sovereign AI infrastructure.

A Former Industrial Footprint Repurposed for the AI Era

The Ercros plant in Flix once served as a cornerstone of heavy industry in Catalonia. Under the new project, that footprint will be transformed into a large-scale AI data center campus designed to provide the physical infrastructure that modern AI computing depends upon, including power, land, cooling systems, and buildings capable of running next-generation IT applications at scale.

The announcement was made at a media event, presided over by Salvador Illa, President of the Government of Catalonia, and attended by Miquel Sàmper, the Minister of Business and Labor.

The project was signed within the framework of Catalonia's reindustrialization round tables initiative, a task force mechanism established to ensure that former industrial plants transition into productive new uses rather than remaining dormant.

The Department of Business and Labor of the Government of Catalonia has extended its support to the project, which is planned to be developed across two phases.

Upon completion, the facility is expected to generate up to 150 permanent jobs across a range of functions including operations and maintenance, critical facilities engineering, facilities management, security, site services, and operator support.

Rubix Data Centers to Develop and Operate the Facility

The new data center will be developed and operated by Rubix Data Centers, a company that forms part of Submer Group and is headquartered in London. Rubix specializes in the development and operation of AI data center campuses and will apply what it describes as a develop-and-operate model, meaning the company will both construct the facility and continue to run it to agreed service levels for a third-party long-term tenant.

John Eland, CEO of Rubix Data Centers, emphasized the company's long-term commitment to the Flix community. We intend to operate the facility we are building here, so we are not simply passing through Flix, Eland said.

Instead, we are committing to Flix for the long term, working alongside the local community and the administration, and creating skilled local jobs as the site returns to productive use.

Rubix's remit within Submer Group covers the foundational layer of AI infrastructure, specifically the physical environments required to support large-scale AI and cloud deployments. The company operates both as an independent development and delivery partner and in collaboration with other Submer group companies.

Liquid Cooling Technology at the Core of the Design

A defining feature of the Flix data center is its planned use of the latest energy-efficient liquid cooling technology, which Submer states uses no water during operations.

This approach addresses one of the principal sustainability concerns associated with large-scale data centers, which have faced growing scrutiny over their consumption of freshwater resources in regions already subject to water stress.

The facility is intended to meet the exponential requirements of European sovereign AI infrastructure while also contributing to Catalonia's broader digital economy.

Submer Group frames the design as reflective of its wider mission to close the gap between AI ambition and AI reality by addressing structural constraints in AI infrastructure, including power availability, thermal density, deployment speed, and data sovereignty.

Submer's Footprint and Strategic Context

Founded in Barcelona in 2015, Submer Group describes itself as a full-stack AI infrastructure company that has deployed more than 500 megawatts of liquid-cooled infrastructure and holds more than 8 gigawatts of powered land across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific. The group operates globally, with hubs in Houston and Taipei in addition to its Barcelona origins.

Patrick Smets, CEO of Submer, said the Flix investment reflects the company's commitment to building where it creates lasting value. As a European company, Submer Group is proud to be part of the reindustrialization of Flix and the positioning of Spain as a leader in AI infrastructure development, Smets said.

The Flix site has a notable industrial heritage, and it is where our vision for AI infrastructure can start to take shape. As demand accelerates, we will expand across the full stack, from land and power to cloud and edge, and we are building where it creates the most lasting value.

Smets added that returning the site to productive use through durable infrastructure and long-term local partnerships is the kind of initiative the company seeks to be associated with.

Broader Implications for European AI Infrastructure

The Flix investment arrives at a moment of intense competition across Europe to attract large-scale data center investment capable of underpinning sovereign AI capabilities.

Governments and regional administrations across the continent have been working to position themselves as destinations for the physical infrastructure that AI development and deployment require, and Catalonia's decision to channel this project through its reindustrialization framework reflects the strategic value placed on converting legacy industrial assets into digital infrastructure.

The project's alignment with Spain's broader ambitions in AI infrastructure development was a central theme of the announcement event attended by the Catalan president.

By developing significant capacity at the Flix site, Submer and Rubix are positioning the facility to serve European demand for AI computing at a time when questions of data sovereignty and geographic distribution of computing resources have become increasingly prominent in policy discussions.

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