What's the last one?

I stopped reading the articles, but the last one I can recall was Barcelona I think. Just some random search engine hits since I don't exactly bookmark the articles:

https://www.inc.com/bryan-adams/this-unsuspecting-european-c...

https://www.barcelonacatalonia.eu/en/microsoft-stresses-that...

https://thenextweb.com/news/barcelona-not-next-silicon-valle...

That's not unique to Europe; the USA has done this countless times in the last 20+ years, mainly on the east coast. Some city or region will proclaim themselves "the next Silicon Valley", and of course it doesn't happen. NYC tried it once, calling themselves "Silicon Alley".

Much of the USA is jealous of Silicon Valley's success, and they try to make themselves the next SV without actually learning why SV became successful in the first place and emulating that. So, for instance, one big reason SV has continued to be successful is the fact that non-compete agreements are unenforceable in the state of California. A SV tech employee can easily leave their job and go to work down the street for a competing company. This isn't true in most other states, and noncompete employment clauses can be common.