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Amazon To Open Logistics Megacentre In Barcelona

15 December 2015 – Expansión

Amazon now officially has a site for the construction of its logistics centre in Cataluña, to serve customers in Southern Europe. Yesterday, the Catalan Land Institute (Incasòl), a body that forms part of the Generalitat, awarded the firm a plot of land in the Mas Blau II industrial estate, in El Prat de Llobregat (Barcelona), near El Prat airport, for €30 million.

The US e-commerce giant did provide any more details about the award, which involves a plot of land measuring 150,808 m2, with a maximum buildable surface area of 210,000 m2.

The company is designing a due diligence to sketch out the project, say sources at Amazon. The agreement is expected to be signed at the end of January, after the prescribed period of one month for the execution of the operation.

Bidding

This plot of land has been in great demand, given that Incasòl has received offers from other firms in recent months, bidding for the same area as Amazon.

The plot is located in one of the most important economic and industrial areas of the Barcelona metropolitan area.

“The new owners will be allowed to build a ground floor building and add three more floors in order to house the logistics centre plus spaces linked to its main activity: offices, retail and restaurants”, said sources at Incasòl yesterday.

The public body stated that it will be responsible for the construction of the 3.5 km-long underground power line, with a capacity of 15,000 kilowatts, which will involve a total investment of €1.2 million.

Once constructed, this centre will be one of 29 complexes that Amazon owns across seven countries in Europe. The centre in El Prat could become one of the largest – it will be even larger than the centre already in operation in San Fernando de Henares (Madrid) – in terms of its capacity to prepare orders.

Amazon is already undertaking work to construct a new centre measuring 45,000 m2, next to its complex in Madrid, which occupies a surface area of 32,000 m2. The company expects to create one thousand jobs over the next three years.

Original story: Expansión (by Tina Díaz)

Translation: Carmel Drake