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The Government estimates that the project will create up to 1,700 new direct and indirect jobs in Málaga and the rest of Spain
The Minister for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service, Óscar López, has announced that construction work on the facilities for the future state-of-the-art Semiconductor Centre, to be located at Málaga TechPark, will begin “in the first quarter of 2027”. This major infrastructure project has seen the Spanish Government invest 500 million euros through the Spanish Society for Technological Transformation (SETT).
This marks the first major step toward developing this Reference Center for the national and European semiconductor strategy, which forms part of the Government’s Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, within the framework of the PERTE Chip programme and the European Next Generation funds.
The Minister emphasised, “The chip market makes the world go round. The boom in artificial intelligence is clearly driving it, but it is also consolidating its presence in essential, everyday assets such as cars, mobile phones and, increasingly, household appliances. Chips are now a critical piece in the global economy’s mechanism. Neither Europe nor Spain can afford to fall behind. It is not just a question of GDP or competitiveness. It is a question of high-value employment and technological sovereignty,”.
This announcement took place during the Digital Sovereignty: Now Semiconductors conference in Madrid, which brought together a large part of the microelectronics sector’s ecosystem, as well as the key players involved in this ambitious project. The event was attended by imec (an international foundation specialising in nanoelectronics research and development) as a technology partner, and the project is being developed in collaboration with the Regional Government of Andalusia and Málaga City Council, under the technical coordination of the public company INECO.
During the event, Minister López presented attendees with a scale model of the Semiconductor Centre’s facilities, which are to be built at Málaga TechPark in the Andalusian city. This infrastructure will include Spain’s first advanced 300 mm semiconductor R&D facility: a 2,000-square-metre cleanroom for prototyping next-generation chips, representing an unprecedented investment in Málaga by the Government.
This high-level meeting takes place at a strategic turning point for the technology ecosystem, as it forms part of the side events linked to the park’s participation in the 52nd European Conference on Optical Communications (ECOC 2026) and the Optica Global Photonic Forum. IMEC’s establishment fully supports Málaga TechPark’s roadmap of priorities, which focuses its efforts on attracting investment and recruiting highly qualified professionals in four key scientific sectors: microelectronics, photonics, artificial intelligence, and quantum technologies.
This major infrastructure project, in which the Spanish Government has invested 500 million euros through the SETT, and which has also received investment from the Regional Government of Andalusia and Málaga City Council, bringing the total to over 600 million, is key to the national and European semiconductor strategy, which forms part of the Government’s Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, within the framework of the PERTE Chip programme and the European Next Generation funds.
This facility will house 60 advanced processing machines to enable research and prototyping of microchips, representing a total investment of 267 million euros, financed by #FEDER funds. Of this total, 150 million comes specifically from #STEP funds managed by SETT under the 2021–2027 FEDER Multi-regional Programme for Spain, whilst the remaining amount corresponds to investment by the Regional Government of Andalusia through the 2021–2027 FEDER Programme for Andalusia, managed by the Andalusian administration. #EuropaSeSiente
This facility will house 60 high-end processing machines to enable research and prototyping of microchips, representing an investment of 267 million euros, of which 150 million comes from funds managed by the SETT.
The future Centre will help to increase investment in R&D, foster synergies within the ecosystem of universities, research centres, companies, SMEs and start-ups, mobilise capital for deep technologies and boost regional innovation ecosystems.
Up to 1,700 new jobs created by the project
A significant boost to employment is also expected in the Málaga area, as well as across Spain. The Minister stated that, according to estimates, 200 high-quality direct jobs and 500 indirect jobs will be created in the city and the surrounding province, in addition to a further 1,000 across the country. “The Centre’s activities will place Spain and Europe at the forefront of future technological developments, with applications in telecommunications, medicine, mobility, photonics, quantum technology and other transformative industries,” the minister emphasised.
The event was also attended by members of associations, companies and universities involved in the semiconductor sector. It also featured contributions from, amongst others, Patrick Vandenameele, CEO of imec, and Javier Ponce, Director-General of the Spanish Society for Technological Transformation (SETT), who delivered the closing remarks