Two applications for annulment filed by 37 residents are pending before the Council of State, with the Municipality of Spata–Artemida named as one of the respondents. Data In Scale SA, the joint venture between PPC and DAMAC which is building a data centre in Spata, has intervened in one of the cases. This is evident from a decision by the mayor, Dimitris Markos, which was published on the ‘Diaugia’ transparency portal on Monday 19 October, the day the deadline for the municipality’s lawyer to submit his power of attorney to the Council of State expired.
What the mayor decided
Decision 784/2026 appoints a notary in Athens to draw up the mayor’s power of attorney in favour of the lawyer Dimitrios Katsimichas, whom the Municipality has already appointed for the two cases. The fee is 76.92 euros. Although the amount is small, the decision indicates that the two cases are proceeding to trial. According to the text, the deadline for submitting the power of attorney was 19 October, whilst the Municipal Committee, which is the competent body, was due to meet on 20 October. For this reason, the mayor decided himself, under the provisions of the new Local Government Code which allows him to do so when a postponement would be detrimental to the municipality. The decision will be put forward for approval at the Committee’s next meeting. No date has been set for the hearing before the Council of State.
The two cases
The first application (E2884/2025) was lodged on 13 November 2025 against the Minister for the Environment and Energy, the Minister for Development and the Municipality. The Municipality appointed a lawyer by decision 833/2025 of the Municipal Committee, which was published on 14 January 2026. The same decision states that ‘DATA IN SCALE SOCIETE ANONYME’ has intervened in the proceedings.
The second application (E46/2026) was lodged on 15 January 2026 by the same 37 residents, against the Region of Attica and the Municipality. The Municipality appointed the same lawyer as in the Commission’s Decision 28/2026, in February.
The council’s decisions do not specify which acts are being challenged, and the names of the applicants have been redacted. In November 2025, according to a report on newmoney.gr, residents of Spata announced that they were appealing to the Council of State to annul the joint ministerial decision setting out ‘standard environmental commitments’ for low-power data centres, so that these may be licensed without a full environmental impact assessment. The respondents in the first application – two ministers – are implicated in such a ministerial decision. As regards the subject matter of the second application, brought against the Regional Authority, we were unable to find any public information.
The project
Data In Scale is a joint venture between EDGNEX, the DAMAC Group’s data centre company, which holds a 55 per cent stake, and the Public Power Corporation (PPC), which holds a 45 per cent stake. It is building the ATH-1 facility opposite Smart Park, with an initial capacity of 12.5 MW and the potential to expand to 25 MW. The investment for the first phase has been announced as 150 million euros.
It is one of the three data centres in the Municipal Unit of Spata, alongside Microsoft’s and the 80 MW ‘Olive’ facility. Regarding Olive, the Municipal Council had unanimously rejected the environmental impact assessment twice, as we reported on 26 September. On 8 October, the council allocated 35,836 euros for a study to determine whether the region’s infrastructure can support data centres.
In both cases, the Municipality is the defendant. It is not clear from the judgements what position its lawyer will take. We will provide an update once the date of the hearing and the contested decision are known.
Source: Municipality of Spata–Artemida, Mayor’s Decision No. 784/2026 (Diafania, 19 October 2026); Municipal Committee Decisions 833/2025 (Diaugia 14/01/2026) and 28/2026 (Diaugia 19/02/2026).
