Source: Associated Press / AFP
Hundreds of activists broke into the construction site of a planned Microsoft data centre in the Sloterdijk district of Amsterdam on Friday 6 November 2026, climbing a crane, setting off flares and halting work for the day. Dutch police said 150 to 200 people were detained on suspicion of trespassing. The action was part of coordinated “Stop Dirty Data Centres” protests staged across 15 European countries on 6 and 7 November, demanding a moratorium on large scale data centre developments over their energy and water use.
A European movement, not a local dispute
The Amsterdam occupation, led by the groups Geef Tegengas and Fossielvrij, is only the loudest of many actions this week. Around 100 people demonstrated in front of the Polish parliament against data centres planned around Warsaw, a dozen protesters gathered outside a data centre near Berlin, and campaigners held events in Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Spain, Italy, France and the United Kingdom. In Italy, where the Lombardy region has become the country’s main hub for digital infrastructure, more than 1,000 people and some 40 local committees marched in Milan’s Piazza della Scala in October in what organisers called Italy’s first national demonstration against data centres. Microsoft said it respects the right to protest peacefully but does not condone unlawful or unsafe actions.
The protests come as Europe is projected to attract 5.6 trillion dollars in cumulative data centre capital expenditure from 2026 through 2050, around 18 percent of global investment, according to PwC’s Global Data Centre Outlook 2026-50. Activists argue the building boom is moving faster than public consultation and environmental oversight, and they object to the pressure data centres place on electricity grids, often still reliant on fossil fuels, and on water supplies.
What this means for cloud strategy in Europe
For any European business planning its cloud footprint, this movement is a planning input, not background noise. Land, power and water are becoming political questions for the data centres that run our workloads, and resistance can raise costs, delay projects or force siting changes. Choosing a cloud or hosting region is no longer only a matter of latency and price. It increasingly involves grid capacity, renewable energy availability, jurisdiction and public acceptance, and for many organisations a European provider with efficient infrastructure is part of that calculus.
If you want a cloud strategy that balances performance, cost, sustainability and regulatory expectations in a fast changing European landscape, the team at Excello Digital can help you assess your options and design infrastructure that stands up to scrutiny.