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Tenerife’s Tech Boom: The New Silicon Valley of the Atlantic

Tenerife’s Tech Sector Reaches New Heights

Satellites to scan the Canary Islands, artificial intelligence for better films, chips to save energy, systems to give electric car batteries a second life… All this and much more is happening right here on the island. With a pipeline of projects waiting, technology companies are flourishing. The new ‘Silicon Tenerife’ is already generating over €300 million a year just from the infrastructure managed by the Island Council. The entire sector now supports 15,000 direct and indirect jobs.

Record Investment and Surging Demand

The number of companies using facilities at the Tenerife Science and Technology Park (PCTT) and the Technological Institute for Renewable Energies (ITER) has hit a record for public and private investment. For the first time, it has surpassed the one hundred mark, prompting a search for more space. Economic advantages and a comprehensive network of infrastructure explain how this small territory has become a major magnet for research and development. This has attracted giants like Samsung, Telefónica, Intel Capital, Tokyo Electron, Leonardo, Thales, Aytana, and Astra, as well as nurtured emerging firms like Arquimea, Wooptix, Orbidi, and EAVE.

The Winning Formula: Economics, Research, and Connectivity

The bet on the island by R&D entrepreneurs rests on three factors: economic conditions, the availability of numerous research centres, and high connectivity. Rubén Criado, CEO of Arquimea, lists the reasons that led this developer of innovative companies to choose Tenerife, echoing other brands. “Favourable fiscal conditions and a privileged geostrategic position as a nexus between Europe, Africa, and America have been key.” Criado adds another vital point: “A growing scientific and technological ecosystem, with access to qualified talent and first-class infrastructure, makes Tenerife an ideal environment for high-impact innovation.” With initiatives in AI, quantum computing, robotics, and biotechnology, Arquimea already employs 120 researchers, engineers, and other highly qualified professionals.

Expanding the Physical and Virtual Campus

The investment record was achieved partly through €140 million contributed this year by the Island Council to consolidate Tenerife as a technology hub. Last year, two new infrastructures were added: a new PCTT-linked space in Barranco Grande (Santa Cruz), spanning over 3,700 square metres, and a new unit at the ITER in Granadilla de Abona. In parallel, the island corporation has opened a tender for new spaces associated with the Science and Technology Park, which has just received two offers. The PCTT currently has five sites: Cuevas Blancas, Barranco Grande, INnovaparq (University of La Laguna), Las Mantecas, and the Fishing Dock. To these is added a virtual enclave, a model designed for companies that do not require physical space but wish to benefit from the services, advantages, and opportunities offered by the PCTT. Within its facilities alone, 63 companies now coexist and nourish each other, triple the number from just three years ago. Adding firms based at ITER, those it serves directly, and subcontractors for various projects pushes the total past one hundred—a figure never before reached.

Talent: The Island’s Key Asset

The island’s councillor for Innovation, Juan José Martínez, believes one key to this upturn is that the island “not only offers infrastructure and good telecommunications connectivity” but also “talent.” “More and more trained young people with sufficient capability are emerging to join these companies, which has also been valued by many of them when choosing Tenerife.” This technology network has multiplied the private investment injected into the island’s economy. It is estimated that the PCTT and ITER, along with associated initiatives, generate an annual turnover exceeding €170 million and concentrate over a thousand high-value-added jobs. This figure highlights the impact of spaces that have become one of the great levers for diversifying the island’s economy.

Satellites and Supercomputers: Flagship Projects

An example of a Tenerife-based project breaking boundaries and attracting major tech firms is the Canary Islands Satellite Constellation. Just one month ago, the Island Council awarded the €21.3 million contract to the company Telespazio Ibérica, behind which stand two aerospace industry giants: Italy’s Leonardo, akin to Spain’s Indra (67%), and France’s Thales (33%). In a first phase, Telespazio will design the satellites, initiating a full cycle that also includes manufacturing, validation, launch, operation, acquisition, and data exploitation. Four satellites will scan the Canary Islands territory, especially the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, providing data for multiple applications: emergencies, land management, crop monitoring, and climate evolution. This new bet on the aerospace industry is part of the Tenerife Space Horizon programme, the island’s strategy for a sector where Tenerife has much to contribute.

None of these initiatives would be possible without other research centres, both within the island corporation and external, that complement the necessary habitat for R&D to flourish. And Tenerife has them. For instance, Tenerife Space Horizon stems from work developed over years by scientific institutions like the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (IAC), affiliated with the University of La Laguna (ULL). They also wouldn’t be possible without first-class data processing infrastructure. For this task, the island has a powerful tool: Teide and Anaga. They are the largest supercomputers in the Canary Islands. The Island Council is finalising a tender to increase their capacity. These supercomputers, forming a single 80-square-metre unit in the D-Alix data centre at ITER, will rank among the top three most powerful in Spain and in the European elite. With a €10 million investment, their processing power will multiply thirtyfold, reaching 10 petaflops—the capacity of 18,000 mid-range computers.

A Fertile Ground for Innovation

Thanks to this and other instruments, ITER now hosts a robotics unit, a genomics area, connections to submarine fibre-optic cables, a photovoltaic cell laboratory, a wind tunnel, and several solar and wind parks that generate over 20% of the island’s clean energy. The latest addition is an antenna installed by Astra, the communications satellite brand. This conglomerate has attracted major clients like Telefónica, Overon-SES, 22Dogs, 3Doubles, Idecnet, and Kaudal, or companies associated with them like Dinosol, Disa, and Hospiten.

In this fertile ground, new proposals keep sprouting. One is the research centre created in 2020 in the Las Mantecas Park by Arquimea, a Spanish company aiming to develop innovative technologies that address real societal problems. “Since creating the centre, we have launched several startups,” details its CEO, Rubén Criado. These include Neural Domains, focused on applying AI in critical environments like defence; Pulsar, specialising in advanced robotics; Molefy Pharma, developing clinical trials for ALS treatment; and Volinga, an AI-based solution for the audiovisual industry.

Another standout example is Wooptix, created by the University of La Laguna with a global vocation. It also has offices in Madrid and Grenoble, France. Its main markets are Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the USA, and Europe. Its managers highlight advantages similar to those in the audiovisual sector through the Canary Islands Special Zone (ZEC) and the Free Trade Zone. It now operates in the ULL’s Agustín Arévalo Tower business incubator, the Nanotec building in Las Mantecas Park, and the co-working space at the Santa Cruz Fishing Dock—all linked to the Tenerife Science Park. With a team of 85 people, among other products, it plans to produce optical modules for its semiconductor metrology machines, a science applied to chip manufacturing.

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