Amazon to open logistics centre in Martorelles Barcelona

E-commerce company Amazon plans to expand its logistics network in Spain to meet rising customer demand with the opening of a new logistics centre in Barcelona. The new facility will allow Amazon to increase the selection of products available on Amazon.es, which currently offers 160 million products.

The new 30,000-sq-mt centre will be located in Can Toca Business Parks and will create around 200 jobs. The recruitment process will start in the next months.

The investment will also allow Amazon to increase the number of small businesses selling their products through Amazon Marketplace, a service that grew by 70% last year.

Amazon’s chief of operations for Spain and Italy, Fred Pattje, was upbeat about the creation of new jobs “with competitive wages and other additional benefits”, as Amazon employees benefit from a pension scheme and health insurance.

Catalonia as a strategic hub

The Martorelles centre will join Amazon’s European logistics network, which comprises 31 centres in seven countries. The opening also marks Amazon’s commitment to Catalonia as a strategic hub in the logistics sector, said Jordi Baiget from the Government of Catalonia.

The mayor of Martorelles Marc Candela welcomed the arrival of the international company at the office park, which will now be fully occupied reaching levels seen only before the economic crisis.

The Martorelles logistic centre will be the company’s fourth site in Catalonia, joining a 28,000-sq-mt facility in Catellbisbal, a distribution centre for express deliveries in Eixample Barcelona, and a centre opening in El Prat Llobegrat in the fall of 2017.

Amazon has more than 1,000 employees in Spain and has announced plans to hire an additional 600 this year as it expands its logistics centre, its Tech Hub in Madrid, and its corporate team.

The new logistics centre confirms the company’s plans to continue investing in Spain. After the launch of Amazon.es in 2011, the firm has created more than a thousand permanent jobs at its headquarters, logistics centres in Madrid and Barcelona, and its Prime Now distribution hubs.

The multinational brand is also currently building new facilities in El Prat de Llobregat, Barcelona. The 60,000-sq-mt hub is scheduled to open in the fall and create a further 1,500 jobs by 2019.

Amazon is forging even stronger ties with Spain through a software development centre located in Madrid, where 120 engineers will design new capabilities and services for the company’s five websites in Europe as well as for Amazon Business.