Digital Realty entered Portugal through the acquisition of a data center facility in Lisbon. The Lisbon facility is expected to support up to 2.4 MW of IT load and represents a critical addition to Digital Realty?s Southern European footprint. Multiple strategic network service providers are already connected to the facility, underscoring its immediate interconnection value.
Located on the Iberian Peninsula, Portugal is rapidly emerging as a key global digital and interconnection hub, supported by extensive industry investment in subsea cable infrastructure that connects Europe with North America, South America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Lisbon serves as Europe?s Atlantic gateway, offering low-latency connectivity to the Americas and reinforcing the continent?s transcontinental data routes. Previously, subsea-related deployments were routed through Digital Realty?s facilities in Madrid; however, by establishing a facility in Lisbon, Digital Realty will reduce latency and bring its customers closer to the subsea cable landing infrastructure.
The city is uniquely positioned as the only location in Europe with direct subsea connectivity to South America, while also acting as a gateway hub for West Africa and adding diversity to the Mediterranean subsea network. Today, 16 subsea cables land in Portugal, the majority near Lisbon. Digital Realty?s selected site will be the closest data center to the submarine cable landings in Carcavelos, enabling it to support landing solutions and host termination equipment for subsea cable infrastructure.
This strategic location brings enhanced infrastructure resilience and diversity to the Lisbon market while meeting growing demand for secure, scalable, and low-latency digital infrastructure. Digital Realty?s Lisbon data center will be interconnected via subsea cables with the company?s campuses in Accra, Ghana; Lagos, Nigeria; and Cape Town; South Africa, further strengthening digital corridors between Europe and Africa. In addition to the acquired facility, which is expected to be ready for service in early 2027, Digital Realty is laying the groundwork for long-term scalability through future expansion and campus development plans, creating a hub for connected communities and an expanded interconnection ecosystem.
Digital Realty?s entry into Portugal will complement its established presence in Spain, where the company operates four data centers in Madrid, the primary inland digital hub of Southern Europe, and expects to launch service in Barcelona in mid-2026, a key Mediterranean gateway with strong subsea connectivity to Africa, the Middle East, and beyond. Together, Lisbon, Madrid, and Barcelona form the most interconnected regional platform in the Iberian Peninsula, driving seamless global data flows and creating a best-in-class Southern European digital ecosystem. The rapid growth of AI workloads is reshaping global data flows, and Lisbon is emerging as a natural gateway between continents.
Anchored by its access to major subsea cable systems and regional connectivity, the city is well positioned to host next-generation AI infrastructure, supporting scalable data movement and distributed inference across international markets.
