Europe’s photonics ecosystem is gaining a powerful new player in the coastal city of Vigo, in northern Spain. The recently launched SPARC Foundry—a groundbreaking facility dedicated to ultrahigh-end photonic III-V semiconductor fabrication—aims to transform Vigo into one of Europe’s most important industrial innovation centers while strengthening the continent’s push for semiconductor sovereignty.

The project is backed by a public‑private alliance including: SPARC; Spain’s state technology investment vehicle SETT; Vigo Activo; Zona Franca de Vigo, a regional development consortium that manages more than 5 million m² of industrial land and employs 25,000 people; Universidade de Vigo, the academic partner providing research expertise and workforce training; Indra, one of Spain’s largest defense and technology groups, Lucasiñas, and other private capital investors.

The SPARC Foundry facility is projected to produce 20,000 wafers annually, leveraging III‑V materials such as indium phosphide (InP), gallium arsenide (GaAs), and gallium nitride (GaN).

The Spanish government has committed €17.2 million through its PERTE Chip initiative, a €12 billion national program launched in 2022 to boost Spain’s role in the global semiconductor value chain This makes SETT the second-largest shareholder in SPARC, while Indra has acquired a 37% stake, establishing itself as the main industrial partner in this strategic venture.

Construction of the new foundry is slated to begin later this year at the Parque Tecnológico de Valladares in Vigo, with full operations expected to start in the second half of 2027. The facility will be equipped with state-of-the-art cleanroom technology and will occupy approximately 4,000 m². It is projected to produce 20,000 wafers annually, leveraging III‑V materials such as indium phosphide (InP), gallium arsenide (GaAs), and gallium nitride (GaN) for applications across a variety of fields, including telecom, autonomous vehicles, defense, biomedicine, and quantum computing.

SPARC Foundry is expected to generate an estimated 200 highly skilled direct jobs and more than 500 indirect positions once fully operational, injecting significant economic and technological vitality into the Galician region of Spain and beyond.

The Zona Franca de Vigo plays a central enabling role: its investment program for 2026 includes €6+ million earmarked for SPARC, alongside major funding for infrastructure and the Hub TIC technology campus where SPARC and other high-tech ventures will be located.

SPARC will also draw on academic collaboration. The Universidade de Vigo has committed €5 million in European funds toward training future photonics specialists, addressing qualified workforce needs for both the plant and the European photonics sector.

For the optics and photonics community, SPARC Foundry represents an opportunity to engage with large‑scale fabrication of integrated photonic systems under European ownership. It marks a significant regional milestone and a step forward in Europe’s efforts to build an independent industrial base in advanced semiconductor technologies.