On September 19, 2023, the first national meeting of Spain’s Complementary Quantum Communications Plan opened at the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM), marking the formal launch of the initiative. The plan brought together the Government of Spain and six autonomous communities with a total budget of €73 million (~$78 million), of which €54 million came from the Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCIN).
The participating communities were Madrid, Catalonia, the Basque Country, Galicia, Valencia, and Castilla y León, alongside the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). The plan was framed within the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan and aligned with the European Quantum Flagship and the EuroQCI initiative.
The plan’s strategic objectives included developing a high-security communications structure in Spain, supporting the European quantum industry, and promoting a new industrial sector in digital and cybersecurity fields. The initiative was structured as a co-governance program lasting two to three years, with co-financing commitments across the participating regions. UPM was designated as the national coordinator.