The infrastructure, which will connect Valencia and Genova with an investment of €100 million, consolidates the Ligurian capital's position as a strategic gateway for data flows between the Iberian Peninsula and Europe.

Genova's role as a nerve center in global telecommunications routes is strengthened. Sparkle, a leading operator in the submarine cable sector, and the Spanish company Valencia Digital Port Connect (VDPC) have formalized a strategic agreement for the Barracuda system to land at the Genova Landing Platform.

A high-capacity digital bridge

The Barracuda project, developed in collaboration with private equity fund Teset Capital, involves the construction of a 1,070-kilometer direct submarine route between Valencia and Genova. Featuring an open cable system architecture, the cable will be equipped with 12 fiber pairs, each with a transmission capacity of 32 terabits per second. The initiative requires a total investment estimated at around €100 million and aims to be fully operational by 2028.

The central role of the Genova Landing Platform

The infrastructure will land at Sparkle's Genoa Landing Platform, a turnkey solution designed to accommodate submarine cables on the western European coast in an efficient and resilient manner. From here, the signal will reach the Genova Digital Hub in the Lagaccio district: an open colocation facility that serves as an interconnection point with the main European terrestrial networks and Internet Exchange Points.

The use of the Genova platform will allow VDPC to quickly access the main continental hubs, optimizing implementation times and overcoming the administrative complexities typical of proprietary infrastructures.

Strategic expansion and Mediterranean resilience

The agreement is not limited to the Ligurian port: Sparkle will acquire infrastructure assets on the Barracuda system and colocation services at the Valencia station. This synergy will enable Sparkle to strengthen its presence in the Iberian Peninsula and serve the expanding markets of West Africa more extensively.

Enrico Bagnasco, CEO of Sparkle, emphasized the importance of the operation:

“This agreement represents a fundamental step in the strategy to position Genova as a key gateway to Europe. The arrival of Barracuda expands the city's digital ecosystem and allows us to offer an increasingly resilient and high-performance Mediterranean network.”

At the same time, Enrique Martín, CEO of VDPC, highlighted how the choice of Genova confirms the validity of the Barracuda project as a strategic asset for international partners, ensuring the solidity of the vision of an integrated and operational system in the medium term.