On 22 March 2026, Spain’s Royal Decree-Law 7/2026 (RDL 7/2026) entered into force, having been adopted by the Council of Ministers two days earlier. The Spanish Congress has already ratified RDL 7/2026 and resolved to process it as a parliamentary bill (proyecto de ley) through the urgent procedure, meaning the text may be amended during the parliamentary process.
RDL 7/2026 affects all large electricity consumers connected to grids at voltage levels ≥ 1 kV — which includes data centre developers. In summary, RDL 7/2026 introduces five key changes:
This Client Alert analyses each key change, highlights important deadlines, and discusses potential impacts and next steps.
The capacity reservation charge is a new mandatory periodic payment for all holders of demand access and connection permits at voltage levels ≥ 1 kV. The charge is payable monthly to the relevant grid operator from the date the permit is obtained until the installation commences its activity (i.e., execution of the third-party network access contract).
Notably, the charge also applies to pre-existing permits (granted before 22 March 2026), although holders benefit from a three-month exemption period from the date of entry into force of RDL 7/2026, during which the charge will not be payable. The stated objective is to combat speculative hoarding of grid capacity.
The capacity reservation charge is calculated in three steps, as set out in Article 11 of RDL 7/2026:
The result is the amount payable annually to the grid operator, to be distributed in monthly instalments. According to the tariffs set by the CNMC for 2026, for a 50 MW data centre in a tariff segment 6.1 TD, the initial monthly payment would be approximately €40,000.
Until the Secretary of State for Energy formally sets the definitive values, RDL 7/2026 establishes interim values ranging from 0.4 to 1.5 for tariff segments 6.1 TD to 6.4 TD. These values escalate every six months (by increments of 0.2 to 0.75, depending on the segment), computed from the date the permit was obtained, or, for pre-existing permits, from the entry into force of RDL 7/2026. A three-month exemption from payment applies from those same respective dates (i.e., no charge will be payable during those initial three months).
No, if developers complete the project. The capacity reservation charge is characterised as an advance payment of transmission and distribution tolls. Once the installation enters into operation, amounts paid will be offset against the applicable tolls, subject to specific set-off rules.
The capacity reservation charge replaces the economic guarantee (aval) previously required for demand access and connection permits. Holders of pre-existing permits who had already posted a bank guarantee may request its return once cumulative payments under the new charge exceed €40/kW (i.e., €40,000/MW) of access capacity.
Strategic Investment Projects are a new category created by RDL 7/2026 for business or public-private partnership initiatives involving investment or reinvestment in Spain to enhance technological, scientific, or production capabilities, where a public, social, or economic interest for the country as a whole is present. Data centres are expressly mentioned as projects that may seek this designation.
The Strategic Investment Project designation may entail, among others: (a) priority and fast-track processing of all administrative procedures; and (b) facilitated access and connection to electricity, water, transport, and other infrastructure. For electricity specifically, this may include priority incorporation into the transmission network development plan and access to the preferential grid access regime described below.
RDL 7/2026 creates three categories of high-priority applications for demand access and connection permits at voltage levels ≥ 1 kV:
Once a high-priority access and connection application is admitted for processing, the grid operator must suspend all other pending applications from non-high-priority applicants at the same node or within the shared capacity zone, regardless of their stage of processing. Where two or more high-priority applications compete for the same capacity or connection position, category (a) prevails over categories (b) and (c), and category (b) prevails over category (c). Moreover, while the high-priority application is being processed, no new applications will be admitted and no demand capacity tenders will be activated at the affected node.
RDL 7/2026 imposes new milestone deadlines whose breach triggers the automatic lapse of the access and connection permit. They apply both to pre-existing permits (where the holder has not yet executed a network access contract) and to permits granted after RDL 7/2026’s entry into force.
The deadlines for pre-existing permits are:
For permits granted after 22 March 2026, these same deadlines (one, three, and four years) are computed from the date the relevant access permit is obtained.
Non-compliance will result in automatic lapse of the access and connection permit, without the need for any prior proceedings.
Applicants for demand access and connection permits at voltage levels ≥ 1 kV must include the NACE code (CNAE – Clasificación Nacional de Actividades Económicas) corresponding to the intended activity of the installation. The code is recorded in the permit and binds the holder: no changes affecting the division or group level of the NACE code will be admitted, and the holder must maintain the declared activity for a minimum of three years. Non-compliance triggers automatic lapse of the permit.
Holders of pre-existing permits have until 22 September 2026 (six months from RDL 7/2026’s entry into force) to update their permits by including the applicable NACE code. Failure to do so will trigger automatic lapse.
As noted earlier, RDL 7/2026 has been ratified by Congress and will be processed as a parliamentary bill through the urgent procedure, meaning it may be amended.
In addition, the Council of Ministers is mandated to approve specific sustainability requirements for data processing centres connecting to the electricity networks. These requirements may cover, among other things: (a) additionality and hourly correlation criteria for renewable electricity consumption, (b) energy efficiency, (c) sustainable water use, (d) socioeconomic benefits, and (e) the centre’s contribution to digital resilience and sovereignty.
Non-compliance with these future sustainability requirements may result in the loss of access and connection permits and/or penalties, to be determined by regulation.
Latham & Watkins will continue to monitor and report on regulatory developments as they occur.