The Government of Spain launches Spain's first Quantum Technologies Strategy with an investment of €800 million

The Minister for Digital Transformation and Public Function, Óscar López, during the presentation of the strategy

The Minister for Digital Transformation and Public Function, Óscar López, and the Minister for Science, Innovation and Universities, Diana Morant, have presented Spain's first Quantum Technologies Strategy 2025-2030, within the framework of the Global Technology Forum of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). With this initiative, approved by the Council of Ministers on 15 April, the Government of Spain is fulfilling its commitment to the quantum technology ecosystem by promoting a strategy with a comprehensive vision and with investments aligned with the EU in the three key areas: computing, communications and sensor technology.

The estimated budget of the strategy amounts to €808 million, coming from two main sources of funding, ERDF funds and the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan. Both lines also have the potential to attract public and private investments that could raise the total investment to an estimated €1.5 billion.

"The digital transformation we are undergoing is driving disruptive technologies that will change the world as we know it. One of these is quantum, where competition for global leadership is starting to intensify. The quantum race will not be easy, but Spain can and needs to specialise in specific sectors such as quantum communications. This is a sector that will be transcendental to protect critical environments such as financial transactions and energy distribution networks," said Minister Óscar López.

"The Quantum Technologies Strategy we are presenting today is a giant step towards making Spain a leading country in this field", said Minister Diana Morant, who stressed that "investing in quantum research and transferring this knowledge to industry is a commitment to our ability to lead the disruptive innovations that will define the 21st century".

Industrial application: pharmaceuticals, shipping and climatic hazards

In practice, this initiative will encourage funding for infrastructure and industrial application use cases for these technologies. With this, it aims not only to promote the strengths of the Spanish ecosystem, including quantum communications and work in post-quantum cryptography, but also to take advantage of opportunities in sensorics and metrology because of its proximity to the market and its dual application in areas such as navigation and defence. By way of example, quantum clocks will make it possible to navigate with extreme precision, know the position of ships without relying on external technologies and avoid blockages and altered positions, which is key in defence.

Quantum technologies can also assist with the ultra-precise planning of electricity grids, reducing reliance on fossil fuels, supporting the discovery of new drugs, simulating climate risks for better risk management, creating sustainable catalysts for fertilisers, and accelerating the development of advanced materials in the defence sector.

This strategy builds on previous years' investments of €300 million and coincides with the UN's International Year of Quantum Science and Technology. To prepare for this, several roundtables for debate and exchange have been organised with the quantum technology ecosystem in Spain, as well as with representatives of the regional governments and local bodies.

The development of these technologies also means supporting the digital sovereignty and economic security of the EU, taking advantage of the benefits in terms of competitiveness that will strengthen the position of Spain and the EU in this international race. According to data from the European Commission, one in four quantum SMEs in the world is in Europe, a very similar percentage to that of the US. This figure confirms the real possibilities of European- and ultimately Spanish- global leadership in the world market for quantum technologies, which is expected to reach a value of $173 billion globally by 2040.

This action aims to achieve four strategic objectives in Spain:

• Strengthen R&D&I to foster knowledge transfer and facilitate the transfer of research to the market.
• Create a Spanish quantum market, encouraging the growth and emergence of quantum companies and their ability to access capital and meet demand.
• Prepare society for disruptive change by promoting security and reflection on a new digital right, post-quantum privacy.
• Consolidate the quantum ecosystem in a way that drives a vision for the country.

To harness the benefits of these technologies while mitigating the risks, seven priorities are set out with a series of inter-ministerially coordinated initiatives:

• Priority 1: Empowering Spanish companies in quantum technologies.
• Priority 2: Algorithmics and technological convergence between AI and Quantum.
• Priority 3: Spain, a benchmark in quantum communications.
• Priority 4: Demonstrating the impact of quantum sensing and metrology.
• Priority 5: Privacy and confidentiality of information in the post-quantum world.
• Priority 6: Capacity building: infrastructure, research and talent.
• Priority 7: A solid, coordinated and leading Spanish quantum ecosystem in the EU.

Quantum Communications Hub

As a first initiative that already materialises these priorities, the Council of Ministers last week approved the Royal Decree creating the Quantum Communications Hub. With an investment of €10 million from the Component 16 of the Recovery Plan, it will promote three lines of action: the development of use cases in this field; the promotion of research and development in quantum photonics, and the implementation of training and dissemination initiatives.

The aim of this initiative is to bring together the key and unique public actors in the Spanish quantum communications ecosystem to consolidate a network for research, development and implementation of these technologies. In this way, the Quantum Communications Hub will promote quantum science throughout the territory, for example, allocating more than €2.4 million to the Institute of Photonic Sciences of Catalonia; more than €1.4 million to the Quantum Information and Communication Research Group of the Polytechnic University of Madrid; €930,000 to the Donostia International Physics Centre Foundation, and €480,000 to the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands.

Presentation of the Quantum Technologies Strategy

The presentation of the Spanish Quantum Technologies Strategy 2025-2030, by the ministers Óscar López and Diana Morant, brought together the entire Spanish and international quantum technologies ecosystem from the more than 38 countries that form part of the OECD Global Technology Forum, in the framework of a conference held at the Espacio Fundación Telefónica in Madrid.

This forum has sought to highlight Spain's commitment in the changing and complex international geopolitical context, where the race for the development of this disruptive technology is becoming not only an opportunity for Spain, but also a necessity to guarantee digital sovereignty and economic security.

The Secretary of State for Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence, María González Veracruz, and the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Universities, Juan Cruz Cigudosa García, will take part at the end of the international meeting, at 17:30, in an event to present the strategy to the public, with the aim of disseminating and bringing the benefits of this public policy closer to the public. Admission is free until full capacity is reached.

Non official translation