The Government of Spain promotes Imec's flagship project in Malaga with the Junta's permission to build on the land

Act of granting permission to build from the Government of Andalusia to the Government of Spain

The project to build a leading European centre for semiconductor research and manufacturing in Malaga has been accelerated, with the Andalusian Regional Government granting the Spanish Government permission to build on the land where the future infrastructure of the company Imec, a leader in research and development in nanoelectronics and digital technologies, will be installed.

Three months after the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, pledged the first 105 million euros to bring this project to fruition, the first step has been taken to start the future works, with the signing between the Government of Spain, through the Spanish Society for Technological Transformation (SETT), and the Andalusian Regional Government of the right-of-use lease agreement in favour of the Spanish Executive so that it can be built on land in the Andalusian Technology Park.

With this project, "Malaga becomes the technological capital of southern Europe", placing it "at the forefront of innovation and production capacity" for semiconductors, which are key to chip manufacturing, stressed the First Vice-President of the Government, María Jesús Montero, who said that the Spanish Government will contribute 500 million euros to this project, which has a total estimated cost of 615 million euros. For the Vice-president, "a giant step is being taken to conquer the future" from the Andalusian Technology Park, turning it into a "pole for attracting technology companies and job creation".

"Today we are taking another step towards our strategic autonomy and technological sovereignty in the field of microchips and semiconductors, by accelerating the efforts between institutions for the implementation of the Imec centre in Malaga. In addition to the 105 million euros announced by President Pedro Sánchez for Imec's advisory work, the Spanish government has committed a further 9 million euros for the development of all the technical projects prior to the construction of the building. And an additional 227 million euros have been set aside for the construction of the facilities", announced the Minister for Digital Transformation and Public Function, Óscar López, at the signing ceremony at the Andalusia Technology Park in Málaga, which was also attended by the President of the Regional Government of Andalusia, Juanma Moreno; the Mayor of Málaga, Francisco de la Torre; the Vice President and Director of Strategy of Imec, Jo de Boeck, and the Secretary of State for Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructure, Antonio Hernando.

At a later stage, the Spanish Government and the Regional Government of Andalusia will contribute to the purchase of machinery. "This project represents a turning point for Imec. For the first time in our history, we will operate a large facility outside Belgium through Imec Spain. This step underlines our commitment to advancing innovation in Europe, fostering collaboration that transcends borders," said Jo de Boeck.

Together with the agreement for the right to use the land, which totals 51,300 square metres, the Ministries for Digital Transformation and Public Function, and Science, Innovation and Universities have signed an amendment to the general agreement signed in July 2024 with the commitment of all institutions to promote the implementation of the project for the installation of an Imec centre in Malaga dedicated to the research and development of 300mm wafers, updating the previous commitments.

In addition, the Government of Spain and Imec have signed a roadmap that sets out conditions for both parties to meet the project's objective.

A project for the technological sovereignty of Spain and Europe

The minister referred to the Imec project as "another step forward" in the Spanish government's commitment to "a digital revolution that combines competitiveness with social and territorial cohesion. A revolution based on public-private partnerships".

"If we allocate one out of every three euros of the PRTR to digitisation, it is so that everyone wins: the companies with which we carry out the projects, the territories where they are implemented and the people who benefit from their results," he added. It is estimated that the start-up of this centre in Malaga will generate up to 250 direct jobs in its first four years of operation.

Since 2021, the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Function has invested more than 1.2 billion euros in projects of all kinds in Andalusia. Investments that have resulted in an increase in 5G connection in Andalusia from 55.9% to 92.81%, the creation of chairs on Artificial Intelligence and Microelectronics in Andalusian universities or the grants received by nearly 100,000 SMEs and self-employed people to improve their presence on the Internet, electronic sales or cybersecurity. Advances that are key to boosting the talent and infrastructure capabilities that projects like Imec need.

Non official translation