US semiconductor giant Broadcom has abandoned plans to build a microchip factory in Spain, the Europa Press reports. The reason? Talks with the government were said to have broken down, although details remain unknown.
For Spain, this is an image and strategic blow. The country, which had declared its intention to become a European hub for semiconductor manufacturing, was counting on the Broadcom project as one of the pillars of this transformation. The planned plant, according to the government, was expected to cost around $1 billion and be the only one of its kind in Europe.
Spain, like other EU countries, is pushing hard for investment in the chip sector with pandemic recovery funds. The total value of the country’s support programme for the semiconductor industry is €12 billion.
Broadcom’s withdrawal, however, shows how difficult it is to build European technological autonomy in practice. Brussels can enact ambitious strategies – such as the EU Chips Act – but implementing them requires not only money, but also a coherent legal environment, a local base and effective negotiations with global players.
From Broadcom’s point of view, Europe is still a strategically important market – the company is, among other things, a chip supplier to Apple, which is expanding its presence in the region. However, manufacturing investment is a completely different scale of risk.
The decision to withdraw from Spain does not yet signal the defeat of European semiconductor ambitions, but it is a reminder that the chip market is a long-distance game – and not all players are ready to enter it.
