Semiconductors in Catalonia

Semiconductors have become essential and sensitive components for the technological sovereignty of countries on a global scale since chips are strategic for most industrial value chains. You can search our database to find Catalan suppliers in the semiconductors sector.

Indeed, semiconductor chips impact a wide range of industries: communications, electrical and electronic equipment, vehicles, robots, and industrial machinery, and even medicine and medical equipment.

As the report drawn up by Catalonia Trade & Investment points out, while global demand for semiconductors is mainly for communications (32%) and computing (25%), automotive (37%) and industry (25%) stand out in Europe.

In this sense, Catalonia is already positioning itself as one of the most dynamic environments in southern Europe in the field of the design of semiconductors.

This is evidenced by recent investment announcements by Cisco, Monolithic Power Systems (MPS) and Intel, which have chosen Barcelona to locate their microchip design centers. Moreover, Catalan company IDEADED will open close to Barcelona the largest private semiconductor clean room in southern Europe.

Public support in the semiconductor field

The European Chips Act, introduced in February 2022, will involve an investment of more than €43 billion, with the target of the EU accounting for 20% of the global semiconductors market by 2030.

Since the launch of the European Chips Act, Catalonia has become the third-leading region in the EU in terms of foreign investment projects in the semiconductor field, highlighting its growing role on the European tech map.

It is also the fifth-ranked region in the EU in terms of jobs created and the eleventh in investment volume in semiconductors attracted since the announcement of the European Chip Act (2022). Catalonia, positioning itself as the preferred destination in Spain, concentrates 66.7% of the projects, 70.7% of the jobs created, and 40.3% of the invested capital.

Moreover, the Spanish Government is implementing public investment in semiconductors (Strategic Project for Economic Recovery and Transformation- PERTE). This financing will involve €12.25B until 2027 to develop the design and production capabilities of the microelectronics and semiconductor industry in Spain.

Catalonia is already seeing strong results. Companies based in the region have secured €27.65 million from the “Microelectronics Value Chain” call under PERTE Chip, representing 52% of the total €53.2 million allocated across Spain.

In Barcelona-Catalonia, the Semiconductor and Chip Alliance of Catalonia is a public-private initiative with fifty members that aims to develop industrial policies that will boost the semiconductor ecosystem in Catalonia. The Alliance has 5 main objectives: to promote the sector and strengthen value chain actors, to attract investment, to build infrastructure, to become a hub for semiconductor talent, and to promote technology transfer.