It is well known that Spain had made a strong offer to acquire one of the FABs from Intel, TSMC or GlobalFoundries, among other chipmakers, but so far there was no official confirmation of this. what was going to happen to other EU countries. finally take the cat to the water? Well Spain shows to be irrelevant in the political and economic landscapeno longer global, but simply European, because both the projects and the funding and the negotiations were a real disaster.
By recapitulating what has already been treated previously, we can say, without risk of being mistaken, that we have removed the doubt on the Government funding. The 12,000 million dollars that were offered to companies and chipmakers did not come from our country, they came from Europe and for much more necessary purposes.
Sánchez plays with the money offered by Europe for COVID-19
Given this week’s employment data, the blatant waste of the current government and the economic situation with record inflation, it was more than strange that we could offer on a silver platter 12,000 million for manufacturers of chips and their present and future investments.
Well the stupor in Brussels is maximum when that money, that specific figure, is part of EU aid to offset the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. But there is more, and that is that the Spanish government is not happy about this and has not been able to manage their letters well despite the fact that the interest of Sánchez and his team is real towards Intel, TSMC and GlobalFoundries among others.
The builders not only saw the numbers with good eyes, but it turns out that despite the fact that the money is hard and cold wherever it comes from, Spain is of no interest to any of them, at least not for long-term investments. for other than obvious reasons.
Spain, chips and the EU: no infrastructure and bad negotiations
The manufacturers say they need time to make decisions, and very astutely they sent an email to the president’s office (the specific manufacturer is unknown) stating that “we are fully confident that these discussions will soon bear their fruits. in relevant ads”.
The problem is that according to the latest information they are saying this with their backs, since Germany has already confirmed Intel’s mega FAB in Magdeburg for a value of 17 billion (12 billion in Ireland). On the other hand, it has also been confirmed that GlobalFoundries and STMicroelectronics NV have signed their agreements in France to 5.7 billionwhereas, Samsung and TSMC They are waiting, but it seems that Germany or Belgium have all the votes to resume their services.
But why doesn’t anyone want Spain’s 12 billion? Well, for a reason as simple as expected: we don’t have enough infrastructure to be productive and reduce costs. It’s curious because Spain, due to its automotive power, is the second power in Europe in terms of demand for chips, in this case for cars, so having a nearby FAB that sources would significantly reduce deadlines and shipments.
But the relocation of industry in our country and in Europe is of such a caliber that only France and Germany have it, a bit like comparing Madrid and Barcelona with the rest of the autonomous communities. So, manufacturers choose infrastructure over money ringing and stumbling because they are aware that in a decade they will have saved money and that the promises of the Spanish government are meaningless without agreement between the government in place and the opposition in the long term for the good of the country.