Is Spain switching from Windows to Linux?
Spain has history but no current national move. From 2002 the region of Extremadura put roughly 80,000 school computers on LinEx, its own Linux version, and a second distribution served about 10,000 healthcare workstations. We found no recent report of a Spanish government-wide switch from Windows to Linux.
Scope: Regional (Extremadura); no national move reported. Updated Oct 6, 2026.
What operating system does Spanish regional governments use?
- gnuLinEx
Debian-based Linux used in Extremadura’s schools and administration, first released in the early 2000s.
- Lingobex
Linux distribution used on close to 10,000 workstations in the region’s healthcare bodies.
Spain’s Linux timeline
- 2002
Extremadura starts equipping schools with its own Linux, gnuLinEx.
- 2004
A new version of gnuLinEx is released, confirming the region’s commitment to free software.
What is still unclear
This is a general picture, not a measurement.
- These deployments date from the 2000s; their current scale is not confirmed.
- This page covers government use, not Spain’s consumer desktops.
Could Spain switch to Linux in the future?
No move is confirmed. These are the signals that would show a change:
- Spanish ministries joining the European open-source sovereignty push
- A revival of regional distributions
Sources
Spain: common questions
Is Spain switching to Linux?
Not at national level. Extremadura ran an early regional Linux programme, LinEx, in the 2000s, but we found no current Spanish government-wide move away from Windows.
What is LinEx?
LinEx is a Debian-based Linux distribution created by the Extremadura regional government for schools and public administration.
Other countries
Want to try it yourself? Read how to switch from Windows to Linux.