Spain
Spain sits at a natural crossroads between Europe, Africa and the Atlantic, with landing points on both the mainland and the Canary Islands serving a cable mix that spans multiple continents and decades of infrastructure investment.
Connectivity at a glance
- Cable systems
- 12active
- 1 planned
- Landing points
- 6
- Resilience score
- 100
Cable systems serving Spain
| Cable | Status | Ready for service | Length | Design capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Atlantic 3/West Africa Submarine Cable (SAT-3/WASC) | active | 2001 | 13,000 km | 340 Gbit /s |
| ATLANTIS-2 (ATLANTIS II) | active | }} | 12,000 km | 160 Gbit/s |
| BARGEN | active | — | — | — |
| Estepona–Tetuán | active | — | — | — |
| Grace Hopper | active | }} | 6,250 km | 352 Tbit/s |
| MAT-2 | active | — | — | — |
| ORVAL | active | — | — | — |
| SAT-1 | active | — | — | — |
| TAT-5 | active | — | — | — |
| TAT-9 | active | — | — | — |
| VSNL Western Europe | active | — | — | — |
| West Africa Cable System (WACS) | active | — | 14,500 km | 14.5 Tbit /s |
| Quantum Cable | planned | — | — | 200Tb/s |
Landing points
- Altavista, Gran Canaria, SpainAltavista
- # Bilbao, Spain# Bilbao
- * Chipiona, Spain* Chipiona
- Spain Bilbao }}Spain Bilbao }}
- Spain El Médano, Canary Islands, SpainSpain El Médano
- Spain Las Palmas, SpainSpain Las Palmas
Position on the global network
Spain's geography does considerable work in its favour. The Iberian Peninsula juts into the Atlantic at the western edge of continental Europe, while the Canary Islands sit off the northwest African coast — giving Spain two distinct cable frontiers separated by roughly 1,500 kilometres of ocean. That separation translates into landing-point diversity: documented landings include Bilbao on the Bay of Biscay, Chipiona near Cádiz on the Atlantic coast, Altavista and Las Palmas on Gran Canaria, and El Médano in the Canary Islands. The result is a country that can anchor cables heading north toward the United Kingdom, east into the Mediterranean, south along the African seaboard and west across the Atlantic.
The cable mix
Thirteen cables are documented serving Spain — twelve active and one planned — and they span a wide arc of destinations. The transatlantic routes are well represented: TAT-5 and TAT-9 are among the earlier generation of Atlantic crossings, while Grace Hopper, at 6,250 kilometres, represents a more modern high-capacity link across the same ocean. ATLANTIS-2, at 12,000 kilometres, extends Spain's reach into the South Atlantic.
The African corridor is equally significant. SAT-3/WASC, ready for service in 2001 and stretching 13,000 kilometres, runs down the West African coast and was for many years the primary subsea link for numerous African nations. The West Africa Cable System adds a further 14,500 kilometres along a similar alignment, offering a parallel route that substantially improves resilience on that corridor. The short Estepona–Tetuán cable crosses the Strait of Gibraltar, providing a direct link to Morocco that has outsized importance relative to its modest length.
Regional European connectivity appears through BARGEN, MAT-2, ORVAL and VSNL Western Europe, rounding out a portfolio that connects Spain to neighbouring Atlantic and European networks. Quantum Cable, currently planned, signals that investment in the country's subsea infrastructure has not plateaued.
Capacity and resilience
With cables distributed across multiple landing points and directed toward Africa, the Americas and northern Europe, Spain avoids the single-corridor dependency that makes some countries vulnerable to a localised cut or fault. The Canary Islands landings are particularly valuable: they provide an independent entry point for cables that might otherwise bypass the mainland entirely, and they position Spain as a relay node between Europe and sub-Saharan Africa.
The generational spread of the cable list — from older TAT-era systems through to a planned new build — also suggests layered capacity rather than dependence on any single technology vintage.