Spain is experiencing a surprising paradox on its journey towards the cloud and digitalization. It is difficult for us to take the first step in basic digitalization services, but once inside, we are above the European average in the strategic use of technology and in the advancement of business digitalization. This is the main conclusion of the Cloud Nation 2026 report, prepared by the Spanish technology company Aire, in collaboration with Atlas Tecnológico, which analyzes the current state of the adoption of cloud technologies, Artificial Intelligence and Edge Computing in Spain and Europe, in the midst of the digitalization process.
During the event to present the report, which was led by Santi Magazù, General Director of Cloud and Cyber at Aire, and Zigor Gaubeca, CIO of Aire – held this Tuesday, May 26 in Madrid -, there was the participation of personalities from the sector and authorities such as the Hon. Mrs. María Teresa Mallada de Castro, senator of the Upper House of the Cortes Generales of Spain; José María Baños, founding partner of Letslaw; Sister Arteaga Juárez, managing partner of Easy Telecom Law Firm; Luis Ángel Fernández, CEO of Invisible Bits; Miguel Hidalgo, Director of Systems and Solutions at Konica Minolta Business Solutions; o Antonija Tadić, Account Director at WAM Global. All of them have talked about the state of the sector in Spain and the key role of digitalization, providing their expert point of view.
Far from the countries that lead digitalization in the cloud
According to the report, Spain is ranked 21st among European Union countries in terms of the general use of paid cloud computing services, with a national adoption of 44%, reflecting an intermediate level of digitalization. If we take into account the use of tools considered basic within this digitalization process, our country is below the EU average.
However, the situation changes completely when analyzing technological solutions of high strategic value linked to advanced digitalization. Spanish companies demonstrate a higher level of maturity than their neighbors. The integration of ERP applications in the cloud reaches 47%, compared to the 30% European average, consolidating the role of digitalization in business management. Likewise, Spain, with 41.7% penetration, exceeds the EU average in CRM applications (almost 28%), reinforcing its commitment to the digitalization of the relationship with customers. In contracting computing power for their own software, Spanish companies reach 33%, while the European average is 25%, and in platforms for application development in Spain they reach almost 31% compared to the 26% European average, evidencing a more intensive use of technological digitalization.
A two-speed Spain in digitalization
This national paradox in terms of digitalization is explained, to a large extent, by the profound differences between sectors and autonomous communities. At a sector level, ICT (76.48%) and service companies (48.71%) lead cloud contracting and progress in digitalization, while a key driver such as industry lags behind (40.35%), as does construction (35.38%), sectors where digitalization still presents important challenges.
Geographically, Spain is also advancing at two speeds in its digitalization process. Catalonia (58%) and the Community of Madrid (54.15%) lead this process, far exceeding the national average. On the contrary, a large group of 11 autonomous communities is still struggling to get out of the adoption range of between 30% and 40%, which shows the need to promote cohesion in territorial digitalization.
Talent: the real barrier to the digitalization of SMEs
Aire’s Cloud Nation 2026 report is blunt about the challenges of digitalization in small businesses. It’s not the price, it’s the talent. 60% of Spanish companies point out the lack of specialized knowledge as the main obstacle to advancing in their digitalization process and adopting cloud solutions.
This shortage of technical talent especially slows down the digitalization of SMEs (companies with less than 50 workers), widening the gap compared to large corporations. While SMEs are paralyzed by the technical complexity of digitalization, large companies are already immersed in an investment supercycle driven by artificial intelligence and advanced architectures that accelerate their digitalization.
AI, sovereignty and digitalization
The Observatory confirms that the search for flexibility (52%) and the breadth of services (50%) are the main reasons for choosing a cloud provider within the digitalization process. However, in this new stage dominated by AI, security and regulation have acquired a central role in business digitalization.
Today, 57% of organizations that need to run their infrastructure within a single country do so due to security or data protection concerns, cementing the sovereign cloud as a key element in secure digitalization. This approach is essential to avoid cyberattacks and reduce dependence on foreign suppliers in an increasingly complex global environment.
Aire works as a technological partner to promote digitalization and fill the lack of internal talent
“Spanish companies are extremely pragmatic. When they invest in technology, they do so seeking a direct impact on the efficiency of their processes, which accelerates their digitalization, hence our leadership in tools such as ERP,” explains Santi Magazù. “The real challenge as a country is to ensure that SMEs and the industrial sector are not left behind in their digitalization.”
To accompany companies in this challenge, Aire works as a technological partner to promote digitalization and fill the lack of internal talent. Through Aire Cloud, the company offers a complete and flexible portfolio with a Spanish sovereign model, designed to facilitate business digitalization.
With the photograph of the sector in Spain and Europe provided by Aire’s Cloud Nation 2026 observatory, it is essential to accelerate the basic digitalization of the business fabric, especially SMEs and industry. The country has solid foundations to become a European benchmark in advanced digitalization based on cloud and artificial intelligence.
