In brief
On Nov. 7‑8, 2026, demonstrations erupted in Amsterdam, Warsaw, Dublin and other European cities as residents and environmental groups challenged the rapid build‑out of massive data centers. Activists cited high electricity, cooling water and land demands, and called for greater transparency, cost‑sharing and stricter permits. Xinhua reported widespread arrests, a 23% share of Ireland’s metered electricity by data centers in 2025, and expert warnings that concentrated demand could strain local grids and translate into higher consumer costs.
On Friday and Saturday, protests erupted across Europe against large data centers, with demonstrators demanding greater transparency, local cost-sharing and stricter permitting as the continent’s artificial intelligence ambitions clashed with limited electricity, water and land resources.
In Amsterdam, protesters entered a Microsoft data‑center construction site on Friday, prompting riot police to clear the site. More than 200 people were arrested, all released by Saturday afternoon, the Dutch broadcaster NOS reported.
In Warsaw, demonstrators gathered outside parliament chanting “People First, Data Second.” Residents from nearby Piaseczno collected signatures urging a pause in permit applications for hyperscale centres. Jan Maksymak, a Warsaw protester, called the sites “factories” that consume enormous amounts of water and electricity while providing little local employment. “AI companies are taking advantage of government support and public resources to generate greater profits, while shifting the costs of their development onto society,” he told Xinhua.
"We call these data centres 'factories,' but in reality, hardly anyone works inside them, while they consume enormous amounts of water and electricity," Jan Maksymak said.
In Dublin, hundreds gathered for the country’s first nationwide protest against data centers, with community groups from several counties and opposition‑party representatives in attendance. According to the Irish Central Statistics Office, data centers consumed 23 percent of the country’s metered electricity in 2025, up from 5 percent in 2015.
Assistant professor Milos Simic at Serbia’s University of Novi Sad warned that concentrated electricity demand could strain grids and potentially pass costs onto ordinary consumers. He also questioned whether the promised investment yields lasting local benefits.
Meanwhile, Yu Xiaohua, a professor at Germany’s University of Goettingen, emphasized that the key issue is whether gains from technological efficiency translate into economic benefits for local communities.
