The Lidl supermarket chain is continuing to strengthen its position in Spain, where it has invested over 1.5 billion euros over the last five years to expand its logistics and store network. The German multinational has just added another piece to the puzzle by inaugurating a new warehouse in Martorell (Barcelona), reinforcing its logistics network in the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula.

The investment in this new warehouse has reached 140 million euros and is already the largest that this company has made in logistics during over three decades of activity in Spain. At the moment, it supplies around 30 stores in Catalonia and Aragon, although the forecast is for it to reach 130 points of sale and other communities, such as Navarre and the Balearic Islands. Its launch is actually part of the expansion plans to support the opening of new stores.

Four hundred new jobs
Activity at this new logistics asset will enable the company to adapt its distribution resources to serve the 50 new openings planned for this year. 40 of these will be new buildings and the rest will be modernisations and extensions. This is Lidl’s 14^th logistics warehouse in Spain and consolidates Catalonia as its main logistics hub, joining those in Moncadayi Reixach (Barcelona) and Constantí (Tarragona).

This new infrastructure has in addition generated 200 direct jobs and is expected to reach 400 in the coming months when it is fully operational. With these, the company now employs over 4,000 people in Catalonia alone across its three warehouses, around 130 stores (out of a total of 700) and its central offices in Spain.

Solar panels for self-consumption
Lidl’s new warehouse is located in the Can Xàmenes industrial estate, in Barcelona’s metropolitan area. The building, with a floor area of over 66,000 square metres, is located on a plot covering more than 126,000 square metres. It has 144 loading bays, the capacity to handle 120,000 pallets per month and is equipped with over 5,800 square metres of solar panels for self-consumption, which will cover up to 30% of its energy needs.

Lidl Spain’s General Manager for Expansion and Real Estate, Imanol Zabala, said, “The new Martorell platform marks a milestone for our expansion and logistics strategy in Spain. Thanks to this warehouse’s capacity and strategic location, we will be able to respond with greater agility to the sustainable and sustained growth of our commercial network and significantly improve the efficiency of our supply chain in the north-east of the country”.

In addition to this warehouse in Martorell, Lidl’s sustainable expansion plan in Spain includes a new logistics platform in Parla (Madrid) and the extension of the one it has in Constantí (Tarragona).

^{Photo: Lidl}