As governments and companies explore practical ways to use quantum computing, Europe is building early quantum systems into its own supercomputing infrastructure, where they can be tested alongside classical machines.
EuroQCS-Spain is a new quantum computer hosted and operated by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) and is the latest example of that strategy. The system was inaugurated at BSC by the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking, the European public-private supercomputing initiative coordinating major investments in high performance computing and quantum infrastructure. The computer will be integrated with BSC’s MareNostrum 5, one of Europe’s major pre-exascale supercomputers, to create a hybrid classical and quantum computing environment that will boost research and innovation, foster industrial and technological progress in Spain and contribute to the creation of highly qualified jobs, BSC said in a release. Researchers, industry users and public organizations will be able to access it through the Spanish Supercomputing Network, Spain’s distributed supercomputing infrastructure.
The system is supplied by Qilimanjaro Quantum Tech, a Barcelona-based company developing analog quantum computing systems, and Do IT Now, an HPC services provider focused on advanced computing deployments. EuroQCS-Spain is designed to run quantum annealing routines, a type of quantum computing being explored for optimization problems in areas such as logistics, finance, molecular modeling and AI.
EuroQCS-Spain’s first configuration has 10 physical qubits and is undergoing final calibration at BSC, with user onboarding expected soon. Future upgrades will include increasing the number of data qubits and improving coherence times, according to EuroHPC. The computer is owned by EuroHPC JU and has a total acquisition cost of 8.5 million euros. EuroHPC is funding half of that cost, with the remaining half funded by Spain’s Ministry for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service, along with a contribution from Portugal. The system is planned to operate for three years.
The new system is part of Quantum Spain, an initiative coordinated by BSC and promoted by the Ministry for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service. Quantum Spain is a collaborative effort involving 27 leading research and supercomputing institutions in the country, including the 14 nodes of the Spanish Supercomputing Network and universities such as the University of Barcelona, the Autonomous University of Madrid and the Polytechnic University of Valencia, among many others.
EuroQCS-Spain is just one piece of a larger European quantum rollout. EuroHPC has procured six quantum computers across Europe, with four other systems already inaugurated since 2025: PIAST-Q in Poland, VLQ in the Czech Republic, Euro-Q-Exa in Germany and Lucy near Paris. The program is designed to give European users access to a range of quantum technologies, including neutral atoms, trapped ions, superconducting circuits, photonics and quantum annealers. BSC has also been expanding the separate Quantum Spain infrastructure it coordinates. Earlier this month, the center said its MareNostrum Ona quantum partition had reached 35 qubits through a new superconducting processor made with European-developed technology.
It seems unlikely the quantum market will come together around a single architecture anytime soon. Deployments like these at BSC are giving researchers a way to work through that uncertainty, helping them test and compare different quantum approaches in parallel with the classical systems that still carry most computing workloads. As quantum technology matures, these testing grounds could be what moves the field from promise into practice.
