Amazon Web Services says it plans to invest nearly $40 billion in multiple facilities in the region. Regional documents describe 27 data-center projects, together covering about 7 square miles; Amazon alone is building 30 data-center buildings, according to filings cited by the company’s plans. Microsoft, Blackstone and Spanish firms are also pursuing projects.

Aragon’s regional government is promoting the investments as a route to future economic growth. Economic counsellor Eva Valle said the region is betting on an evolving new economy, though its full reach is difficult to predict. Officials have described Aragon as the “Virginia of southern Europe,” referring to the U.S. state with the largest concentration of data centers.

The government has offered tax incentives and expedited planning procedures. Projects granted special status can use compulsory land acquisition, limit local mayors’ ability to block them and give the public 23 working days to object. For a recent Amazon project, the objection period fell over Christmas. Opponents say the timing discouraged scrutiny; the regional government denies that was the intent.

That process has left some residents feeling shut out. In Botorrita, Silvia Baselga’s family first noticed survey markers near their garden wall and went to the town hall seeking information. The published plans later showed the proposed complex would come within about 80 meters of their home and be larger than the village itself.

Baselga worries about round-the-clock lighting, noise and the loss of the rural landscape. “It’s going to be like living beside a prison,” she said.

Water is another concern in a region already battered by drought. Farmer Julio Enfedaque said irrigation allocations were cut by two-thirds after a year in which rain failed to fall for four months. He fears that the growing demands of data centers will make farming more difficult and has advised his nephews to consider other careers.

Amazon says its facilities will use water for cooling only when temperatures exceed 86 degrees Fahrenheit, and that the company is investing in repairs to leaking pipes and helping farmers use water more efficiently. David Blázquez, Amazon’s head of public policy for Spain and Portugal, said the company wants to conserve water and improve local infrastructure. But Amazon does not disclose water use for individual sites, he said. Regional figures show the company’s three existing, smaller data centers used 68 million liters of water — 48% more than it had initially projected to regional officials.

The facilities will also require far more electricity than the region currently uses. Companies say they will rely mainly on renewable power, though sites will have diesel generators. Amazon says it has secured 100 renewable-energy projects in Spain, including 17 in Aragon.

Environmentalists say new wind and solar installations also need careful review, particularly in habitat used by raptors and migratory birds. Aragon’s environmental agency has warned that wind farms in the area pose a high collision risk to the endangered red kite and other protected birds. Nature protection officer Juan Ballesteros said he has collected dead ospreys, golden eagles, kestrels and black vultures near turbines. Amazon says it shares concerns about habitat damage and works with renewable-energy developers that comply with environmental laws.

A coalition of environmental groups has raised money for a legal challenge to the regional government’s expedited approvals of Amazon’s expansion. Activist Luis García of Ecologistas en Acción said the groups are concerned about water and energy use, effects on other industries and environmental damage.

Protests have also drawn hundreds of people in Zaragoza, where demonstrators oppose a proposed data center near a forest used by residents during hot summers. The dispute puts the region’s economic-development strategy against residents’ concerns about resources, habitat and public participation — questions likely to grow as Spain considers national rules for data-center expansion.