Spain to invest $12B in microchips, semiconductors

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced on Monday that the government will invest €11 billion ($12.1 billion) in the microchip and semiconductor industries.

“We want Spain to be at the vanguard of industrial and technological progress,” he told an economic forum in Madrid, adding that semiconductors are of "global geostrategic importance."

“This ambitious project to bring major investments to semiconductors and related technology will be key to reaching strategic autonomy at the European level.”

The investment will be packaged as one of Spain’s Strategic Projects for Economic Recovery and Transformation (PERTES), which will draw on European funds and aims to mobilize private investment as well.

The project will be approved by the government soon, Sanchez added.

Semiconductors are an increasingly essential component of modern life, but demand has outstripped supply in recent years. This has become a major bottleneck for Spain’s auto industry, which represents around 10% of the country’s GDP.

Spain is not alone in making major investments into the semiconductor space.

The European Union now aims to produce 20% of the world’s semiconductors by 2030, up from 10% currently. For that, the EU will mobilize more than €43 billion of public and private investment, according to the European Chips Act.

Spain is looking to be at the forefront of that push to decrease its economic dependence on tourism, as well as its dependence on critical imports.

“This crisis [the war in Ukraine] will not be used as an excuse for us not to progress and do what we need to do … On the contrary, moments like these are when we should reaffirm our principles and the elements that will allow us to win the future,” said Sanchez.