Tokyo, New York, Paris and London, throughout our lives all these cities have appeared in countless films and movies, however, in reality, these locations are much more than just that. Given their sustainability, use of resources, energy and their current use of technology, they are catalogued under the name of SmartCities, or “intelligent cities”. An element of such vital global urban planning importance that Spain has totally refused to do without them.

According to estimates of the Spanish Network of Smart Cities (RECI), today it is possible to point to a total of ten Spanish cities that meet all the necessary conditions to be classified as such. In the following article each and every one of these advantages will be described.

Santander and its particular way of taking advantage of technology today.

Recognized for being the capital of the autonomous community of Cantabria, its level of progress has been greatly enhanced by the efficient way in which energy resources are managed for a better functioning of municipal services. In total, it is estimated that there is an arsenal of some 20,000 sensors installed throughout the city, which record all types of information systems on a daily basis.

The capacity that this distribution possesses makes it an impressive computer in itself, making all kinds of activities possible. First of all, Santander itself has managed to reduce 30% of the electricity it consumes on a daily basis, and SmartSantanderRA allows both locals and visitors to freely access this information.

Malaga and the different reasons why it is considered one of the most important SmartCities in Spain.

In terms of energy use, the city of Malaga is undoubtedly a SmartCity of the highest level. While it has an arsenal of automated sensors just like its predecessor, it is in itself the prolonged use of electric vehicles that brings it into its class. Malaga is equipped with a total of 200 electric vehicles that can be rented for various types of activities.

Another great blow for the promotion of municipal energy savings are the various initiatives promoted in partnership between the main City Council and the renowned electricity company Endesa, through which various forms of energy-saving and intelligent public lighting are being implemented. In recent years, that town has been able to save up to about 2.5 million euros a year all thanks to the use of sensors that turn on street lights when they notice the presence of cars.

Madrid and Barcelona: The old cities of the Spanish kingdom at the forefront of the use of digital urbanized systems.

Although they are not free of multiple economic and environmental problems, nothing prevents the latest technological efforts to modernize them from being noticed. In the first instance, the Spanish capital is immersed in a remarkable and ambitious project called MiNT (Madrid Inteligente), in which the companies Everis and IBM have been delegated the responsibility of creating a virtual map of services for the feasibility and optimization of various systems.

In Barcelona, the circumstances are usually no different, in this case the government initiative called Barcelona Digital City 2017-2020, will seek to modify various parameters of the city among which are, transportation, waste management, water purification, among others.

Final Notes: Other important Spanish cities related to the world of sustainability and technology.

As stated at the beginning of this article, the Spanish Network of Smart Citiesis more than an association, it is a movement for change that today integrates a total of 81 urban centers throughout the country, each of which wishes to take advantage of today’s tools to offer a better social environment.

This is how technology today has also allowed other Spanish cities such as Valencia, Seville and Bilbao to be considered. The same institute’s web page describes how the totality of the aforementioned geographic mass occupies 40% of the total population of Spain. In the future, through the incorporation of new urban plans and strategies, it is expected that this percentage will increase in favor of balanced development and national adaptation.