- The BSC’s quantum infrastructure, MareNostrum Ona, has completed its evolution with a new 35-qubit processor, now available to the research, public, and business communities through the Spanish Supercomputing Network.
- The system’s development is part of the Quantum Spain initiative, promoted by the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Civil Service through SEDIA.
The Barcelona Supercomputing Center – National Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS) has taken a further step in the development of its quantum partition, MareNostrum Ona, with the addition of a new 35-qubit chip. Developed with 100% European technology and operating under an open-access model, this system positions the BSC as a European benchmark in the deployment of quantum systems of this kind.
Since its launch, the system has undergone progressive development through the incorporation of successive processors, growing from an initial capacity of 5 qubits to its current 35-qubit configuration, recently installed.
This advance marks the final milestone of Quantum Spain, an initiative coordinated by the BSC and promoted by the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Civil Service through the State Secretariat for Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence (SEDIA). The project, launched in 2022, is funded by the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan and falls under the España Digital 2026 programme, as well as the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy (ENIA).
Quantum Spain is a collaborative effort involving 27 leading research and supercomputing institutions across Spain, including 14 nodes of the Spanish Supercomputing Network (RES) and other institutions such as the CSIC, ICFO, and universities including the University of Barcelona, the Autonomous University of Madrid, and the Polytechnic University of Valencia, among many others.
“The addition of this 35-qubit processor completes the technological roadmap we had set for ourselves. Quantum Spain aimed to demonstrate the technological maturity of the field and move from experimental quantum computers to the deployment of an operational machine. But most importantly, all of this development remains open: any research group or company can access real quantum hardware, integrated into a supercomputer like MareNostrum 5 — something still exceptional in Europe,” says Alba Cervera, BSC researcher and Quantum Spain coordinator.
The system was installed and commissioned by the Spanish joint venture Qilimanjaro-GMV. Based on superconducting technology, it is integrated into the MareNostrum 5 supercomputer, enabling new forms of computing that combine classical and quantum capabilities.
“This system marks the transition from experimental to operational quantum computing. Qilimanjaro, together with GMV and the BSC, has shown that Spain has the industrial capacity to produce, deploy, scale, and maintain real quantum systems in production, integrated into one of Europe’s most powerful supercomputers — and, above all, accessible from day one to the scientific and industrial community, to accelerate adoption and open the door to the new ideas that will define this quantum revolution,” says Marta P. Estarellas, CEO of Qilimanjaro.
The scientific community, businesses, and public bodies can request access through the Spanish Supercomputing Network (RES) and run their algorithms on real quantum hardware, enabling them to validate results and develop new applications in a real-world environment.
To date, the RES, as a distributed Unique Scientific and Technical Infrastructure (ICTS), has granted access to its quantum resources to a total of 45 projects. Together, these have accumulated nearly 4,000 hours of computing time and have led to the development of several scientific papers*, reflecting the growing interest from the scientific and technological community in this type of infrastructure and its application in real-world settings.
“After months and years of intense work and preparation, we have brought a European quantum computing system into production — one that is part of a Spanish ICTS and among the largest and most complete computing systems in the world. Now, with the system stable, our work is to support users of this infrastructure,” says Sergi Girona, BSC Director of Operations.
Quantum computing promises to revolutionise multiple disciplines by enabling the analysis of phenomena at the atomic scale. Its potential applications range from chemistry — where it could drive the creation of new materials and drugs — to solving complex challenges in areas such as logistics and finance.
Its capacity to improve process efficiency also positions it as a strategic tool, particularly when combined with artificial intelligence to design more advanced machine learning algorithms. In the field of security, it could redefine cryptography, posing unprecedented challenges while also enabling more secure solutions.
MareNostrum Ona is currently being further enhanced with the installation of a new analogue quantum computer, which forms part of one of the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking’s quantum computing nodes. This system will expand and strengthen the centre’s research capabilities and will also be made available to users.
*Scientific Publications:
- Tejedor, M., Conejero, J., & Badia, R. M. (2026, 29 abril). A Semantic Quantum Circuit Cache for Scalable and Distributed Quantum-Classical Workflows. arXiv.org. https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.26788
- Tejedor, M., Casas, B., Conejero, J., Cervera-Lierta, A., & Badia, R. M. (2025, 2 mayo). Distributed Quantum Circuit Cutting for Hybrid Quantum-Classical High-Performance Computing. arXiv.org. https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.01184
- Ortuño, L. S., Coll, S. F., & Ferrara, M. (2026). Quantum kernel methods for marketing analytics with convergence theory and separation bounds. Scientific Reports, 16(1), 6645. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-35793-y
