Amazon might open new logistics centre in Greater Barcelona
E-commerce giant Amazon is studying the possibility of opening its first logistics centre in Catalonia, as advanced by some newspapers on Thursday. The new facilities could be located in El Prat de Llobregat, next to Barcelona's main airport. The centre could dispose of 210,000 m2 of work space and 151,000 m2 of land, making it larger than the Amazon centre in Madrid, according to ‘La Vanguardia’ newspaper. Works could start soon for the logistics centre to become operational by late 2015, with 3,000 employees expected to be hired. The Catalan Minister for Business and Employment, Felip Puig, regretted this early announcement as the company has not reached a final decision yet. Puig regretted the “reckless” move by the Spanish Secretary for Trade for disclosing the news and added that Catalan authorities continued to “work discreetly” to attract investments from foreign multinationals.
El Prat de Llobregat (ACN).- E-commerce giant Amazon is studying the possibility of opening a large-size logistics centre in Greater Barcelona, as advanced by some newspapers on Thursday. The new facilities could be located in the Mas Blau II business area in El Prat de Llobregat, next to Barcelona's main airport. The centre could dispose of 210,000 m2 of work space and 151,000 m2 of land, according to ‘La Vanguardia’ newspaper. Works could start soon for Amazon logistics centre to become operational by late 2015, while 3,000 employees are expected to be hired. Sources close to the transaction have confirmed to the ACN that negotiations between the US company and the Catalan Government had started a year ago. However, El Prat’s City Council has refused to comment on such news while the Catalan Minister for Business and Employment, Felip Puig, regretted that the information had been leaked. Puig described the leak as a “reckless” move by the Spanish Secretary of State for Trade, Jaime García-Legaz. Puig added that the Catalan Government would continue to “work discreetly” to attract investments from foreign multinationals.
The El Prat de Llobregat centre would be Amazon’s second facilities in Spain, as the American multinational has already opened a logistics centre in Madrid. The Catalan facilities might be larger however and its employees could start taking care of the orders made by customers by Christmas 2015, according to Barcelona-based ‘La Vanguardia’.
Attracting multinational companies “requires discretion”, according to Puig
The announcement has caused some discomfort within the Catalan Ministry of Business and Employment as the transaction is not yet closed. According to its Minister, Felip Puig, this leak could jeopardize the investment and the news should not have been announced before the company reached its final decision.
During an interview at ‘RAC1’ private radio station, Felip Puig said he “was appalled” by the leak and described as “reckless” the attitude of the Spanish Secretary of State for Trade, Jaime García-Legaz. “The last thing we want is to turn this opportunity into a political controversy that could jeopardize this decision and many others that are taken in a very quiet and diligent manner”, stated Puig.
“Multinational companies like Amazon require discretion, seriousness and legal security and some of these elements are missing in the policy of the Spanish Government”, the Catalan Minister regretted. He stressed that the Catalan Government continued to “work discreetly” so that Amazon and other multinationals could settle in Catalonia, “with a global perspective” in mind.
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