International distribution is being strengthened this year with new projects in Spain, consolidating its presence and opening up new markets.

Lidl has thereby given a new boost to its growth in Catalonia with a new store and the announcement of another four openings (two new ones and two extensions) in the next six months. It is also building a logistics platform in Martorell (Barcelona), which is in its final phase of construction.

The Martorell hub will be Lidl’s largest logistics investment in Spain to date, with an investment of 140 million euros. This transaction will in fact make Catalonia a key region in its expansion strategy and will reinforce its operational capacity in the north-east of the peninsula. It will have a surface area of 66,000 square metres and 144 loading bays.

Lidl’s network in Catalonia now exceeds 125 stores, out of a total of 700 in Spain, and with three of the 13 logistics centres it has in the country. In 2024, there were three new openings, involving an investment of over 16.5 million euros and the creation of 50 new jobs. Last year, a logistics centre was also set up in Constantí (Tarragona). The company generates over 3,900 direct jobs in Catalonia, and its activity contributes around 1.4 billion euros to its annual Gross Domestic Product, which is 0.55% of the total.

Carrefour to exceed 1,600 stores
The food retail industry continues to grow in Spain, and Carrefour is another of the major investors committed to boosting it. After opening 691 stores between 2019 and 2024, this year it is maintaining the pace and has ended the first half of the year with 46 new stores, which have received an investment of over 150 million euros and generated more than 3,500 jobs.

With these figures in hand, the French group expects to close 2025 with over 100 new openings, which would take it past the milestone of 1,600 stores of different formats and sizes in Spain, between its own stores and franchised stores. The new openings planned for this year will generate more than 700 full-time jobs.

Boosting its European business
Carrefour has a market share of close to 10% in Spain, and the country is one of the main drivers of its European business. Its network includes over 200 hypermarkets, a segment it leads. In terms of supermarkets, the majority of its openings in 2024 were franchises. They were joined by the 47 Supercor stores acquired from El Corte Inglés.

Carrefour Spain’s Executive Director, Elodie Perthuisot, explained, “We have a very ambitious expansion plan, which reinforces Carrefour’s leadership in Spanish retail, where we are committed to a strategy that combines different formats such as hypermarkets, and proximity and convenience stores. We want to be where our customers are and offer them the best products at the best price, which is the Carrefour Spain brand differentiation.”

^{Photo: Lidl}