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The Spanish government finally gave the green light for the construction of a synchrotron light source. This agreement is a major achievement for the Minister of Science and Technology, Anna Birulés. The Spanish source will be a third-generation source with an energy of 2.5 GeV. The source will be sited in Cataluña, in the region of El Vallès. The total investment for construction and equipment amounts to 120 million euros and will be carried out during the period 2003–2007. The operating budget, as from the year 2008, will be 12 million euros per year. Both budgets will be shared on a 50% basis between the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Generalitat of Cataluña (Catalan Government). With the approval of this latest third-generation source, Europe is certainly catching up in the state-of-the art provision for synchrotron radiation. The construction of SOLEIL, the French 2.75 GeV source near Orsay, and DIAMOND, the UK's 3 GeV source near Oxford, is also expected to be completed at about the same time.
