The American company Cisco has chosen Barcelona to open a state-of-the-art semiconductor design center, the first it will have in all of Europe. It will initially be located in the innovation center that the multinational already has in the Catalan capital, in the old Ca l'Alier factory. "With the installation of the new chip design center, our city consolidates itself as the technological capital of Spain," remarks the first deputy mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni. According to the multinational, the space will start with a team of engineers, without specifying the number, with the forecast that it will gradually grow in the coming years through new alliances with actors in the Spanish semiconductor ecosystem.
"Today's announcement reinforces Cisco's commitment to supporting the digital ecosystem in Spain and throughout Europe," highlighted the company's global chairman, Chuck Robbins. The Barcelona center will be dedicated to designing and prototyping semiconductor devices, key for sectors such as automotive, aerospace, healthcare equipment, telecommunications, energy production, and industrial automation. "Cisco has a long-term commitment to accelerating the digitalization of Spain, and chips are at the heart of digital technologies," the technology company defends.
The investment, yet to be finalized, is part of the PERTE of microchips, the recovery project promoted by the Government that will have a greater public investment, with the mobilization of more than 12,000 million euros. "Spain is becoming a key player in achieving the EU's goal of reaching 20% of the global chip market by 2030. We have approved the PERTE of microchips and we have the roadmap, reforms, and incentives to attract talent and consolidate the current Spanish ecosystem," defended the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez.
For its part, the Govern has indicated that the project has the support of Acció, the agency for competitiveness of the Department of Business and Work. The Catalan Executive also wanted to recall recent investments along the lines of Cisco's, such as the one announced by the American semiconductor company Monolithic Power Systems, which will launch its main R&D center in Europe in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, and Intel's project at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS) to open a microchip laboratory.