One-liner: Spain's national semiconductor & microelectronics strategy (PERTE de Microelectrónica y Semiconductores, funded by Next Generation EU / PRTR) — the funding engine behind Valencia's chip and photonics ambitions. Spans the whole value chain: design, fabrication, materials, advanced packaging and integrated photonics.
MAJOR UPDATE (2026-07-05) — budget cut confirmed by the European Commission. The European Commission's Digital Decade Report 2026 (18 Jun 2026) states Spain reduced PERTE Chip from its original €12,250,000,000 envelope to just ~€1,936,000,000 actually mobilized — a cut of over 80%. Brussels attributes this to "cambios en la situación geopolítica, falta de inversiones privadas y retrasos en la asignación de fondos" (geopolitical shifts, lack of private co-investment, and delays in fund allocation) and calls it "un paso atrás" (a step backward) from Spain's original digital-sovereignty ambitions for the program — PERTE Chip was the largest-endowed PERTE (2× the electric-vehicle PERTE) before the cut. The EC also flags that 87% of Spain's Digital Decade roadmap measures conclude before end-2026 and that MRR fund execution for PERTE Chip must close by 31 August 2026 — with the government already having published a BOE ministerial order on returning unexecuted funds where milestones were missed. The €12.25bn figure should no longer be presented as the program's live firepower — use ~€1.94bn as the current reference figure, with €12.25bn noted as history/original ambition only. #status/verify (recheck for Spain's formal response / any further revision).
What it funds (lines)
- Design & R&D — reinforcing chip design capacity (fabless, the national chip "Cátedra"/design network), pilot lines and R&D.
- Segunda convocatoria — cadena de valor microelectrónica/semiconductores: €33.4M initial (expandable to €73.4M), min. project size €500k, first-come-first-served (non-competitive), covered chip design/IP cores, fabrication, test/automation equipment, materials, packaging&test. Window 1–30 Sep 2025 (closed); spend had to be incurred by 30 Jun 2026 (also now past). Followed a first general call (Jan 2025, €110M, closed 31 Jan 2025) that awarded €65.4M to two companies. #expired — no third general call announced yet; watch planderecuperacion.gob.es.
- Fabrication (front-end / back-end) — incentives for wafer fabs and advanced packaging/test.
- Centro de Desarrollo e Innovación en Microelectrónica (Málaga, Parque Tecnológico de Andalucía) — a €500M committed project with IMEC International (Belgium) + Junta de Andalucía. Fundación IMEC Spain (constituted Mar 2026) received a further €8M direct grant (Consejo de Ministros, 9 Jun 2026) for the "Programa UNICO I+D-IMEC Spain" — two R&D lines: (1) flat/broadband optics (miniaturized lenses — mobile cameras, VR) and (2) next-gen microelectronics scalability/energy-efficiency/advanced fabrication. Not Valencia-based, but the second major PERTE Chip regional hub alongside Valencia's photonics cluster — relevant ecosystem context.
- Materials & equipment and integrated photonics (a Valencian strength). Spain (via ICFO, UPV, Centro Nacional de Microelectrónica, Universidad de Vigo) participates in the EU pilot line for integrated photonics — cited positively by the EC's Digital Decade Report 2026 alongside the budget-cut criticism.
- Equity co-investment via the SETT (Sociedad Española para la Transformación Tecnológica), which executes the PERTE Chip fund and also runs Next Tech (disruptive tech) and Spain Audiovisual Hub. Per the EC report, SETT has mobilized >€812M across semiconductor/microelectronics strategic projects, including stakes in Diamond Foundry (Extremadura synthetic-diamond fab), Quantix, Sparc, Ideaded, Wooptix — alongside Valencia's Attypics.
Who it's for
- Semiconductor / microelectronics / photonics companies, fabs, scale-ups and research consortia — mostly larger projects and consortia rather than direct small-SME grants; smaller players engage via design programs, ICTS access and co-investment.
Valencia relevance (the local access map)
- Attypics Photonics — a new Valencian photonic-chip company (created April 2026), spun out of the UPV's ICTS MICRONANOFABS-NTC (UPVfab / NTC cleanroom, 15+ yrs in photonic-chip fabrication). SETT invests €24.5M alongside Baladre Capital (49% / 51%), €50M in phase 1 and up to +€200M in phase 2; a "Lab-to-Fab" photonics reference for 200/300 mm wafers, aligned with the European Chips Act 2.0. Facilities in Paterna (1,240 m² cleanrooms phase 1 → 7,502 m² final); 100 direct jobs phase 1, 300+ after phase 2.
- Local ecosystem: UPVfab, Valencia Silicon Cluster, Valencia Chip Boost, and the UPV/NTC photonics base.
How to engage
- Watch planderecuperacion.gob.es and the SETT for specific convocatorias / co-investment calls
(each line publishes its own terms and deadlines —
#status/verifycurrent open lines). - For photonics/chip startups, connect through UPVfab / NTC, the Valencia Silicon Cluster, and design/ICTS programs.
Key facts
- Original envelope ~€12.25bn (PRTR-approved, largest of all PERTEs, 2× the electric-vehicle PERTE); actually mobilized ~€1.936bn per the European Commission's Digital Decade Report 2026 (18 Jun 2026) — an 80%+ cut, officially attributed to geopolitical shifts, weak private co-investment, and fund-allocation delays. Running to 2027+ in principle, but MRR-linked execution must close 31 Aug 2026; unexecuted/unmet-milestone funds are subject to a published BOE return procedure.
- A mix of grants and equity co-investment (via SETT). Aligned with the EU Chips Act 2.0.
- EC's own report still credits concrete wins: SETT's >€812M mobilized, the Diamond Foundry/Quantix/Sparc/Ideaded/ Wooptix stakes, the Málaga/IMEC Spain microelectronics hub, and Spain's participation (via UPV) in the EU integrated- photonics pilot line — i.e. the access map (labs, co-investment, pilot infrastructure) is holding up better than the raw budget-execution headline.
Relations
- Run by: PERTE Chip
- See also: UPVfab
- See also: Valencia Silicon Cluster
- See also: Valencia Chip Boost
- See also: Semiconductors (niche)
- See also: INPYME 2026