More than 100 protesters broke into the construction site of a planned Microsoft data centre in Amsterdam on Friday 6 November, climbing cranes, setting off flares and hanging banners, in the opening action of two days of coordinated protests against data centres across Europe.

The action took place in the Sloterdijk district, in Amsterdam's western port area, where the facility is being built by Pure Data Centres Group. Microsoft is set to be the site's sole tenant, and the centre will have a planned capacity of 78 megawatts. Bloomberg reported, citing a police statement, that two groups entered the site by cutting open a gate, and that at least one person was arrested, with police confiscating an angle grinder and climbing equipment.

Dutch police said they detained between 150 and 200 people on suspicion of trespassing. A campaigner with Fossil Free Netherlands told Bloomberg that an estimated 400 people took part, while the group Geef Tegengas, which helped organise the protest, said hundreds of activists had blocked construction at the site.

Part of a Europe-wide campaign

The Amsterdam protest was organised by the Stop Dirty Data Centres coalition, which is calling for a moratorium on large data centres across Europe. The coalition organised two days of demonstrations on 6 and 7 November, with events in countries including the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Germany and Poland. It says data centre expansion raises energy bills, worsens water shortages and the climate crisis, and increases the power of large technology companies.

A Microsoft spokesperson told Gizmodo the company understood that people felt strongly about the project and respected their right to express those views peacefully, but did not condone actions that were unlawful or put people's safety at risk.