Supermarket chain Dia has opened a new distribution centre in Villadangos del Páramo (León), designed to strengthen its presence in Castile and León and boost its logistics network. The new warehouse adheres to the standards of the logistics optimisation model already implemented at the Illescas (Toledo) centre in 2022 and the Dos Hermanas (Seville) centre in 2025.

The construction of the logistics centre has involved an investment of nearly 60 million euros, backed by real estate fund and asset manager IBA Capital. The warehouse, which has created more than 200 new jobs, serves over 200 stores in Castile and León and northern Spain.

The second largest
The building has a gross floor area of 64,000 square metres, making it the food retailer’s second-largest facility. It has 127 loading bays and capacity for more than 25,000 pallets, and houses around 5,000 product lines. According to forecasts, it will handle an average of 3 million boxes a month this year and receive around 200 lorries every day, half from suppliers and the other half for deliveries to stores.

Inside the warehouse, there is a 24,000-square-metre area of temperature-controlled chambers ranging from -21° to 12°, depending on product requirements. The technology deployed incorporates the latest innovations in order picking to optimise efficiency, enhance agility and increase productivity.

Faster and more precise processes
The opening of the new centre forms part of the 2025-2029 strategic plan to optimise its logistics network and increase capacity, choosing strategic locations that reduce the distance to stores and implementing technological improvements to carry out faster and more accurate processes.

The building’s construction has complied with the sustainability requirements of the BREEAM Excellent certification. Features include greenhouse gas-free cold rooms, solar panels, lithium-ion batteries in materials handling equipment, a fan system for thermal comfort, a dedicated waste management area and pre-installation for electric lorry chargers.

A time of growth and expansion
For Ricardo Álvarez, CEO of Dia España, the opening of this centre is “a reflection of our period of growth and expansion. With this new warehouse, we want to optimise our logistics to support our network of stores in Castile and León and northern Spain; create jobs and boost the local economy, as well as adapt to our customers’ current and future needs.”

The regional director for Castile and León, Carlos Aznar also described the region as “a key region for Dia, where we generate close to 2,000 jobs. Our activity in the region currently accounts for 0.8% of both GDP and employment. This new warehouse is certainly a clear example of our ambition to strengthen our offering and respond swiftly to the new demands and consumer habits of the people of Castile and León.”

^{Photo: Dia}