The New Map of Power: Why Spain Is More Strategic Than We Think

For years, we have measured a country’s importance by the size of its economy, the strength of its military or the amount of natural resources it possesses. However, 21st-century geopolitics has introduced new factors: data, energy, digital infrastructure and the ability to connect territories.

From this perspective, Spain occupies a far more significant position than we tend to imagine.

An Increasingly Necessary Question

A few months ago, after a conference on digital transformation, someone asked me a question that reflected a fairly widespread perception:

—Is Spain really a strategic country?

They were not asking whether Spain was a major military power or whether its economy ranked among the largest in the world. The question was different: to what extent does Spain occupy a relevant position in an increasingly complex international environment?

For a long time, this question would have been answered by looking at a political map or consulting a few economic indicators. Today, however, the answer requires us to examine many more variables.

Because the world has changed.

And so has the way countries generate power and influence.

Power No Longer Depends Solely on Territory

Just two decades ago, discussions about national security focused mainly on borders, ports, airports, military bases and natural resources.

All of these things remain important. Geography continues to shape a fundamental part of international politics. However, it is no longer enough to explain how the new map of power works.

Today, a country also gains value from the information it generates, the networks it connects, the digital infrastructure it hosts and the role it plays within international supply chains.

The economy has become so dependent on technology that separating the two increasingly feels artificial.

Spain is a good example of this transformation.

If we look only at a physical map, we see a country located in the south-western corner of Europe. But when we broaden our perspective, we discover a different reality: Spain connects the Atlantic with the Mediterranean, serves as one of Europe’s main maritime gateways and occupies a privileged position in relations between Europe, Africa and the Americas.

This location has been important for centuries. What has changed is the type of assets that now move through these connections.

We are no longer talking only about goods or raw materials. We are also talking about energy, data, knowledge, critical infrastructure and the digital networks on which a fundamental part of the European economy operates.

The New Strategic Infrastructure

When we hear the expression “critical infrastructure”, we tend to think of power stations, airports, commercial ports or railway networks. However, the concept is much broader.

A data centre can be just as strategic as an energy facility. A submarine cable carrying a significant share of internet traffic can be as valuable as a major motorway. The technological platforms that allow banks, hospitals, public administrations and businesses to operate all form part of the same architecture.

This reality forces us to reconsider how we understand security.

Protecting a country no longer means simply guarding its territory. It also means ensuring the operation of systems that we can barely see but on which economic activity, public services and much of our daily lives depend.

For this reason, it is becoming increasingly difficult to separate economics from geopolitics.

A prolonged disruption to the energy supply can bring businesses and essential services to a standstill. An attack on digital infrastructure can reduce the competitiveness of an entire sector. The theft of strategic information can affect a country’s industrial development for years.

It is all part of the same environment, in which the boundaries between security, economics and technology are far less clear than they once were.

Why Does Spain Attract Interest?

Spain is fully involved in this new landscape. This is not only because it belongs to the European Union and NATO, but also because it is home to internationally active companies, first-class logistics infrastructure and a highly digitalised economy.

Its geographical position, its connections with different continents and its integration into European economic networks all increase its strategic value.

There is also another aspect that often goes unnoticed.

We frequently assume that becoming a target of cyberespionage or intelligence-gathering operations is a sign of weakness. However, the opposite is often true.

The actors behind these operations do not usually invest large amounts of time, money and resources in irrelevant targets. They act wherever they believe valuable information, knowledge, technology or industrial capabilities can be found.

It is an uncomfortable but obvious logic: no one tries to access something they do not consider important.

Cybersecurity Is Also Economic Policy

For this reason, digital security should not be approached solely as a technological issue.

Ultimately, what is at stake is a country’s ability to protect its knowledge, businesses, infrastructure and position within an increasingly connected economy.

This shift in perspective explains why cybersecurity is no longer a conversation reserved exclusively for specialists. It is now part of corporate strategy, industrial policy and economic planning.

Decisions that only a few years ago appeared to belong exclusively to technical departments are now being discussed in boardrooms and public institutions.

This is not necessarily because a permanent threat exists, but because our technological dependence is far greater than it was just a decade ago.

A Form of Power We Cannot Always See

Perhaps this is the most significant transformation of all.

For generations, we were taught that a country’s power depended mainly on visible assets: its territory, factories, resources, ports and military capabilities.

Today, much of that power flows invisibly through communication networks, technological systems, submarine cables, data centres and digital infrastructure that barely appear on traditional maps.

Spain occupies an important position within this network.

Understanding this reality does not mean adopting an alarmist view of the world. It simply means accepting that prosperity, competitiveness and security can no longer be regarded as separate issues.

In the 21st century, they are all part of the same conversation.