Catalonia has assumed the presidency of the European Semiconductor Regions Alliance, a position it will hold throughout 2026. The President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, led the handover ceremony, which took place at the Pedralbes Palace in Barcelona last November in front of around a hundred European industry representatives.

During his address, President Illa stated that ‘Catalonia is ready to take on the challenge of driving the leap in scale that Europe needs in the semiconductor sector’. The Secretary of Enterprise and Labour, Miquel Sàmper, as well as the Secretary of State for Industry of the Government of Spain, Jordi Garcia Brustenga, also took part in the event, alongside other authorities representing member regions of the alliance.

Catalonia was chosen by a majority of votes from the alliance's members ahead of the other submitted candidates. As a first step, during 2025, Catalonia held the vice-presidency of the ESRA alongside Saxony, while Piedmont presided over the alliance. Likewise, Catalonia led the alliance's working group before the European Commission, with the aim of bringing the regional realities of industry closer to the community institutions.

Established in September 2023 in Brussels, the ESRA brings together 36 European regions with developed ecosystems and more proactive support policies in the field of semiconductors, 13 of which are driving forces, including Catalonia. Catalan participation in this entity is coordinated through the Department of Business and Labour, via the Directorate-General for Industry and ACCIÓ, the agency for business competitiveness. Together, the regions that make up the ESRA represent more than 50% of the European Union's GDP.

The ESRA's objective is to place the focus on the regions in the deployment of policies to boost semiconductors in Europe, within the framework of the new European Chips Act, which aims to give the continent greater technological sovereignty and production capacity. In this regard, coinciding with Catalonia's presidency of the alliance, the new standard will be defined, which aims to establish the manufacturing of 20% of the world's total chip production in Europe.

The semiconductor ecosystem in Catalonia

As part of the ESRA handover events, Catalonia hosted representatives from the other associated regions to introduce them to the local semiconductor ecosystem. Thus, the European delegation was introduced to world-class infrastructure such as the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), as well as the new Quantum Data Center from the Catalan company Qilimanjaro, which has recently opened these new facilities. During the event, round-table discussions and working sessions were organised, focusing on the challenges and opportunities for this industry.

Catalonia is already one of the most dynamic regions on the continent in the field of semiconductors. Specifically, it is the third-largest region in the European Union for attracting foreign investment projects in this sector.

In total, according to ACCIÓ data in the “Semiconductors in Catalonia” report, there are already 260 agents forming part of this ecosystem, including companies, entities, technology centres and research institutes. Collectively, these agents generate a turnover of €302 million and a talent hub with more than 4,600 highly qualified professionals. A large part of this ecosystem is integrated into the Catalonia Semiconductors and Chips Alliance, which is led by the Department of Business and Labour through ACCIÓ, the agency for business competitiveness.