YET another Amazon logistics centre is due to open in Spain – great news for local businesses and sole sellers who rely on the multi-national online retailer to reach a much wider customer base.
And this time, instead of being located in or close to the country's biggest two cities, Barcelona and Madrid, the delivery plant will be in a small town on the south coast, potentially providing jobs in an area that needs them the most.
The beautiful Cádiz-province town of El Puerto de Santa María, right in the heart of 'sherry country', with regular daily passenger ferries to Cádiz city and attractive streets, buildings and beaches, relies heavily on tourism and fishing for its income.
Despite this, it manages to retain a traditional essence completely the opposite of 'touristy' and is much-loved by visitors who want to see 'real Spain' whilst being close to airports, railway stations and major attractions, idyllic beaches, a vast array of restaurants and affordable, bustling nightlife, as well as being popular with international language students for all these reasons.
But tourism is necessarily seasonal, and is not Covid-proof, meaning the whopping 12,000-square-metre (three-acre) sized logistics centre on its Las Salinas industrial estate will be a very welcome feature for the local economy.
It will be 'one of the biggest and most important in Andalucía' among Amazon's fast-growing network of infrastructure in Spain, according to mayor Germán Beardo, and its presence will bring 'a dramatic revolution' for the economy 'not only in El Puerto de Santa María, but in the whole of the province of Cádiz'.
El Puerto is fortunate with its location – with a port, a railway station served by high-speed and national networks offering it quick access to Cádiz, Sevilla, Jaén and a direct link to Madrid, the airport in nearby Jerez de la Frontera, and also its closeness to Algeciras, where ferries run regularly to Tangiers in Morocco and the Spanish city of Ceuta, and which is right on the Gibraltar border.
For this reason, Amazon was attracted to the quaint, picturesque market town – the many and varied transport links mean customer deliveries will be swift and uncomplicated.
Even before the hub is in operation, just the building of it will involve an investment of over €6.5 million, providing welcome work for local constructors and suppliers who live from job to job.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com