Spain has introduced its third quantum supercomputer, a 9.8-million-euro initiative designed to accelerate research and artificial intelligence (AI).
The Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) has incorporated a third quantum computer that will merge with the MareNostrum 5 system, enabling the integration of classical supercomputing, quantum computing, and AI.
The recently developed machine has been created and constructed by Qilimanjaro Quantum Tech, a company located in Barcelona, with financial support from the European Commission and Spain’s Secretariat of State for Digitalization and AI.
This is an analogue quantum computer, in contrast to the two earlier installed quantum computers that are digital.
Classical computers operate with bits, which can be either 0 or 1 at any moment, whereas quantum computing utilizes qubits, capable of representing both states simultaneously. This ability enables the creation of significantly more powerful algorithms and addresses issues that traditional computers can hardly manage.
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The three quantum computers of the BSC are located in the Torre Girona chapel, the same venue that accommodated the first four iterations of the MareNostrum supercomputer from 2005 to 2023.
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The quantum partition of MareNostrum 5 is referred to as MareNostrum Ona. The initial two machines, activated in February 2025, have already accumulated 4,200 computing hours since their introduction. This duration has been allocated to 53 research projects chosen through official announcements by the Spanish Supercomputing Network (RES).
This advanced quantum computer will be incorporated into the European quantum computing network advocated by the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU), the initiative through which the European Union seeks to enhance its supercomputing abilities and build its technological foundation.
So far, EuroHPC JU has obtained six quantum computers located in various European nations. Three of them, set up in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Germany, have already been launched and will be part of a forthcoming network of interconnected systems for scientific research and technological advancement.
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Núria Montserrat, the Catalan government’s Minister for Research and Universities, emphasized that the initiative “strengthens the concept of European technological independence against US ‘big tech’ firms”.
“Utilizing technologies created in this supercomputer, supported by Catalan and Spanish public policies along with significant collaborations in Europe, we can generate our own European technology aimed at achieving strategic autonomy and reducing dependence on third nations,” she concluded.
The new computer signifies a significant achievement for the Spanish and European tech landscape and reflects further progress towards the European technological sovereignty sought by EuroHPC and the BSC, aligning with the European Commission’s strategy to lessen dependence on essential infrastructure from external nations.