Amazon to open logistics center in Barcelona in 2017, with 200-million-euro investment

• • With more than 60,000 m2, the facility will create 1,500 new jobs over the next 3 years
• • The company has chosen El Prat to be close to the airport and for Barcelona’s capacity to attract talent

The Amazon logistics center in El Prat de Llobregat is now a reality. The American e-commerce recently signed the final contract to purchase the land for its logistics center from Incasòl. This facility will have more than 60,000 m2 with a buildable floor space of up to 210,000 m2. The launch of this center, which will begin operations in fall 2017, willentail 200 million euros in investment and create 1,500 new jobs over the next three years. 

Sources inside the company have said it was their intention from the beginning to establish their first Spanish logistics center in Barcelona, but the space available led them to build the facilities in San Fernando de Henares in 2012. The new facilities in Barcelona will be part of Amazon’s European logistics network, made up of 29 centers in seven countries. This center will serve products not only to consumers in Catalonia and Spain, but throughout Europe.

Furthermore, Amazon has highlighted that they didn’t choose El Prat del Llobregat as the location for their logistics center at random, pointing to specific things like its proximity to the Barcelona airport and to key locations in southern Europe, as well as the Catalan capital’s ability to attract talent. The center in El Prat, which will be the largest in southern Europe, will allow Amazon to deliver 700,000 units each day.

Amazon’s firm commitment to Catalonia has been seen in recent months in their purchase of land in El Prat from Incasòl, lease of the former headquarters of Gustavo Gili publishing house, in Barcelona’s Eixample district, and the announcement that Swiss logistics company Kuehne+Nagel will move into two warehouses at the Constantí industrial park to serve the e-commerce giant. Sources inside the Catalan government highlight that these investments reinforce strategic sectors like logistics, with great value added, and promote new, more modern and innovative forms of commerce.