What connects León and Greenland
Icamcyl in the media / 15-01-2026
León sits atop deposits that could turn it into a strategic hub for technological innovation and critical metal mining. From European projects to rare earth exploration permits, the region combines industrial heritage, natural resources, and scientific ambition. In fact, numerous research initiatives aim to position the northwest of Spain as one of the key centers for rare earth production. For years, various stakeholders have been working to ensure that the new kind of mining—one that extends value chains beyond simple mineral extraction—places the province among Europe’s strategic centers.
The energy transition—electric vehicles, renewable energy, data storage—depends on materials that are both strategic and scarce: rare earths, cobalt, germanium, tantalum. On this continental map, an unexpected player emerges from northwest Spain: ICAMCyL, headquartered in León, which has become a reference point in Brussels for designing the mining and critical materials industry of the future. In fact, they are preparing to launch—most likely in 2026—a project centered in León to boost the industry at the European level.
In just two years, this foundation has helped mobilize nearly €150 million in European projects and has become a hub connecting companies, universities, governments, and major international consortia. Its mission, according to Santiago Cuesta, the foundation’s director general, is to ensure that Castilla y León does not merely witness Europe’s strategic autonomy revolution, but actively participates in it. He notes that the European Union imports over 90% of the permanent magnets needed for its tech and renewable energy industries, most of which come from Asia.
To address this vulnerability, Brussels has launched the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), an ambitious framework requiring the extraction, processing, recycling, and certification of more raw materials within Europe—an area in which ICAMCyL is one of the most experienced players. The foundation participates in several key projects under this framework. These include ExpSkills-REM, which trains technicians and specialists across the entire rare earth magnet value chain, from extraction to recycling, and Passenger, aimed at developing permanent magnets without rare earths—“one of the most disruptive technological bets to reduce external dependence,” according to Santiago Cuesta.