Today I visit the science place closest to my home. And despite that, I had never set foot there. It is located on Carrer de la Llum – yes, they have given it a tailor-made name – in Cerdanyola del Vallès, bordering Sant Cugat, where I have lived for many years.

The Alba Synchrotron of the future is now operational. The Generalitat (Catalan Government) and the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities signed an agreement this Tuesday to allocate more than 926 million euros over the next thirteen years to convert it into a fourth-generation particle accelerator, which will place the Cerdanyola del Vallès facility among the most advanced research infrastructures in Europe.

The steps toward launching the first chip design, development, and prototyping center in Catalonia are accelerating. The Generalitat (Catalan government) plans to approve this Tuesday the creation of the public foundation InnoFAB, with the purpose of promoting specialized research and development in technology and pre-production of chips based on advanced semiconductors, which have strategic applications in sectors ranging from electronics to healthcare and energy.