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Vigo Confirms Site and Timeline for Spain’s First Photonic Chip Factory

Backers frame the project as a drive for industrial sovereignty to anchor a Vigo photonics ecosystem.

Overview

  • The plant will be built in Valladares with the first stone planned before year‑end pending the works contract and production targeted for late 2027.
  • It is presented as Spain’s first photonic semiconductor facility and the only site in Europe set to manufacture gallium‑nitride (GaN) wafers.
  • Organizers say the initiative has mobilized more than €120 million to date, including a €17.2 million public injection confirmed in June by SETT.
  • Sparc forecasts about 200 direct jobs at the factory plus 50–100 at a nearby packaging center, with training tracks such as the NextChip chair and a state Pilot Line to build skills.
  • Indra, a 37% investor, highlights dual civil‑military uses, noting GaN boosts radar power and range for earlier drone detection, while stakeholders call out raw‑material dependence concentrated in China as a key risk.