The project, unique in Spain and one of Europe's most ambitious chip production initiatives, will be driven by the Indra Group, which will contribute its innovative, technological, and business capabilities, its international experience, and its track record as a leading company in the national industry. The SPARC semiconductor factory, scheduled to begin operations in 2027, will be located in the Valadares Technology Park in Vigo. It is planned to include an R&D center, a training area, and office space, and is expected to generate 200 direct, highly skilled jobs and 550 indirect jobs. Indra Group is thus advancing its objective of becoming the leading company in the aerospace and defense industry in Spain, boosting industrial and manufacturing capabilities and creating high-quality, skilled employment throughout the country.
Indra Group's presence in Vigo extends beyond this first national chip foundry; the company has also established a Specialized Defense Center. This high-tech facility is dedicated to some of the most demanding and cutting-edge projects currently underway in Europe, projects of vital importance for ensuring the capabilities of the Spanish Armed Forces and other allied militaries.
Manuel Escalante, Chief Technology Officer and member of the Board of Directors of SPARC, participated in the groundbreaking ceremony along with the Minister for Digital Transformation, Oscar López; the Mayor of Vigo, Abel Caballero; the Government Delegate in Galicia, Pedro Blanco; the First Deputy Mayor and Senator Carmela Silva; and the State Delegate of the Vigo Free Trade Zone, David Regades, among others.
Minister Óscar López stated that “SPARC will make Vigo one of the crown jewels of Spain’s digital revolution” and that a project like this represents the industrial rebirth of the entire country. “This event has it all: it has a future, it has science, it has public-private partnerships, it has collaboration between government bodies, it has digital transformation, it has industry, and it has the reindustrialization of a country by leveraging digital transformation.”
For his part, the Mayor of Vigo, Abel Caballero, thanked Vigo and the Free Trade Zone for their leadership in the SPARC process and Minister Óscar López for his role in convincing the partners that Spain and Vigo were ideal locations for the factory. Caballero asserted that SPARC’s arrival marks a milestone for the city and applauded the entry of Indra Group and SETT into the SPARC company, comparing the project to Citroën’s arrival in Vigo.
Manuel Escalante, Chief Technology Officer of Indra Group and member of the SPARC board of directors, emphasized that “the chip factory places Vigo at the forefront of European initiatives seeking to guarantee technological sovereignty in an area critical to the defense and aerospace sectors. We should be proud to be promoting this initiative from Spain, through a public-private partnership model, which positions us among the leading countries in technological and production capabilities on the continent. It will contribute to developing the local production network, creating wealth, and generating highly skilled employment.”
David Regades, State Delegate to the Vigo Free Trade Zone, stated that “today is a very important day for Europe’s technological independence. The new industrial revolution is the technological revolution, and Vigo is playing a significant role in this, not only because we already have twice the number of technology jobs as the Spanish average, but also with projects like the one we are inaugurating today, which offer significant added value.”
The center collaborates in the development of electronic defense systems, radars, anti-drone systems or the future EU Strategic Command and Control System, a unique system in the world that will facilitate the coordination of joint military missions involving several EU countries.
