The British company Oxford Quantum Circuits (OQC) has chosen Barcelona as the location for its new quantum computing center, the largest of its kind in Southern Europe

This highly strategic project will involve an investment of 92 million euros and the creation of 210 jobs over the next five years. It marks OQC’s first facility in the European Union and the company’s first development and manufacturing center worldwide.

The new headquarters in the Catalan capital, called the “OQC Global Quantum Development & Manufacturing Center,” will be dedicated to the design, development, and manufacturing of next-generation quantum computers, with applications in fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), finance, healthcare, and energy. The facility will feature laboratory spaces, offices, and an assembly and technical integration area to carry out applied R&D, industrialization, systems integration, and testing in quantum engineering.

OQC’s investment project—which began as a spin-off from the University of Oxford—strengthens Barcelona and Catalonia’s position as a strategic player within the European quantum and innovation ecosystem. The opening of the new center will help attract high-value-added talent and technology, consolidating the region as a leading destination for strategic technology projects and strengthening its role in a sector that is key to European competitiveness and technological sovereignty.

To establish this new center in Catalonia, OQC is receiving coordinated support from the Generalitat de Catalunya through ACCIÓ, the business growth agency of the Department of Business and Labor; from the national government, through the Co-Investment Fund (FOCO), an instrument of the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan (PRTR) managed by COFIDES on behalf of the Secretary of State for Commerce to attract investment in innovative projects in Spain; from the Barcelona City Council, through the Barcelona Investment Office; and from Barcelona & Partners, Barcelona Global’s agency for attracting investment and strategic projects.

Oxford Quantum Circuits, which plans to begin setting up operations in Barcelona during the fourth quarter of 2026, recently closed a Series C investment round of nearly 300 million euros—the largest round of its kind completed by a company in the quantum sector at the European level. COFIDES, a public-private management firm, participated in this transaction, investing a total of 46 million euros through the Co-Investment Fund (FOCO).