In my view, European ambition begins when we know how to play together

In my view, Portugal's decision to move forward with a joint application with Spain for the installation of an Artificial Intelligence gigafactory says much more about strategic maturity than about any national limitation. At a time when Europe is trying to assert itself technologically in an increasingly fragmented world, the real test is no longer just wanting to but knowing how to get there.
When I read that the Minister of Economy publicly acknowledged that "it is not easy to have this gigafactory in Portugal", I did not see this as a sign of weakness. I saw realism. And, above all, I saw an important step towards a more adult approach to European industrial and technological policy. The AI gigafactory that the European Commission intends to fund is neither a symbolic project nor a political trophy. It has heavy infrastructure, intensive in capital, energy, talent, data, and scale. And this requires decisions that do not always fit within rigid national borders.
In my view, Portugal today has many of the right ingredients. Competitive renewable energy, ongoing structuring projects, a strategic geographical positioning, assets such as Sines and a growing reputation as a stable and reliable country. But it is also evident that, when the criterion is continental scale, the sum of capabilities can be more powerful than the isolated effort. This is where the Iberian candidacy takes on real meaning.
Uniting Portugal and Spain does not dilute ambition, it reinforces it. It creates critical mass, integrates value chains, brings together research centers, universities, energy networks, and financial capacity. And it sends a clear signal to Brussels: The Iberian Peninsula is prepared to take an active role in Europe's technological future, not as a periphery, but as a relevant bloc.
The announcement that the Portuguese candidacy will be strengthened, with greater investment and involvement of Banco Portuguese de Fomento, goes in exactly the same direction. In my view, more important than winning a specific race is to ensure that Portugal is sitting at the right table, participating in the definition of the technological architectures that will shape the next decade.
Even in a scenario where the gigafactory will not be physically on Portuguese soil, integration in the project, design, governance, and value chain already represents a huge strategic gain. Today, the value is not only in concrete or servers, but in the ability to be part of the ecosystems where innovation, digital sovereignty and economic competitiveness are decided.
I have written several times that Portugal is learning to position itself as a partner and not just as a destination. In my view, this joint candidacy is further proof of that. In energy, data centers, green industry and now Artificial Intelligence, a more collaborative, more European, and more pragmatic approach is beginning to consolidate.
Regardless of the final outcome, this movement is positive. It shows a country that understands that ambition without scale is fragile, but that scale built with intelligence, cooperation and long-term vision can be transformative. In my view, this is how Portugal truly begins to gain a place in the new European economy.