EMBRC-Spain: the Spanish node of a European research infrastructure that offers research services in marine biology and biotechnology in the Spanish coastline

EMBRC-Spain (https://www.embrc.es/) is the Spanish node of the European Marine Biological Research Centre (EMBRC-ERIC), a research infrastructure (RI) that provides access to marine bioresources and research services for academics, industry and society in general. With the incorporation of the University of Cadiz in 2026 EMBRC-Spain gathers four marine research centers offering complementary marine biology related research services: Toralla Marine Science Station (ECIMAT-CIM/UVigo), Plentzia Marine Station (PiE-EHU), the Spanish Bank of Algae (BEA-ULPGC) and the University Institute of Marine Research (INMAR-UCA). Its mission, aligned with that of EMBRC-ERIC, is to support marine biological research/innovation and foster a European Blue Bioeconomy by serving the research community with up-to date research services. To do so EMBRC-Spain provides access to ecosystems in the Biscay Bay, Galician Rias, the Subtropical Macaronesian area, and the Mediterranean-Atlantic transition at the Strait of Gibraltar. It also provides biological resources and access to diverse research platforms.Since 2017, EMBRC-Spain has participated in 10 European RI projects plus 3 Interreg Atlantic Area and 3 national networking projects. Two of these projects have obtained the Atlantic Area project award (2018 and 2025). EMBRC-Spain manages two of the 22 biodiversity observatories that conform EMBRC´s European Marine Omics Biodiversity Observation Network (EMO-BON) endorsed by the UN Decade of the Oceans. EMBRC-Spain offers 63 different research services that have been accessed by over 100 international researchers through more than 40 "transnational access projects" or by the European coastal expedition EMBL-TREC.EMBRC Spain is also dedicated to fostering the creation of dynamic (trans)Regional Blue Innovation ecosystems through the regional embedding of its operators, ECIMAT-CIM/UVigo in Galicia and North-Portugal-Galicia Euroregion, PiE-EHU in Basque Country and Basque Country-Navarre-New Aquitaine Euroregion, BEA-ULPGC in Canary Islands and Macaronesian region and INMAR-UCA in Andalucía and Spain-Morocco common Gibraltar-strait space.Acknowledgements: Grant RED2024-154137-E by MCIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and Basque Government fund to PiE-EHU.