This is a new commitment of this company for the Aragonese logistics area that will be ready in 2023, which will allow the creation of 250 new direct jobs and 750 indirect jobs, after executing an investment of 80 million euros. This will increase Plataforma Europa’s operational capacity by 20%.
The Aragonese President recalled that on September 29, 2021, the Governing Council approved the Declaration of Investment of Regional Interest for Inditex’s expansion project, which contemplated the acquisition of new plots of land with an area of more than 63,500 square meters, owned by private individuals, although integrated into PLAZA, which were located close to the current facilities.
Lambán has affirmed the will of the Executive to continue supporting and revitalizing PLAZA as it has been doing since 2015, seconding initiatives as powerful as the bet of this company that was the first major investment made in the platform and that in these twenty years of presence in Aragón has invested 600 million euros since 2003. «It is our obligation and our devotion», he admitted after thanking the collaboration received in the hardest moments of the pandemic when the company’s airplanes brought masks and respirators to Aragon, as well as the acquisition of technology thanks to the help of the owner of Inditex, Amancio Ortega, for public hospitals.
Aragon is perhaps the most important logistics platform in southern Europe and the trigger, according to Lambán, was the decision to settle in Plaza in 2001 and that, in addition to its own evolution and growth, is the tractor of other auxiliary companies that also generate employment and also announce investments in nearby land to develop activities closely related to the Inditex plants. Despite the current international situation of so many uncertainties, he believes that this type of economic events give people security and certainty.
The plant connects with 2,000 Zara stores around the world. There are 600 trucks a week to the main cities in Europe and 52 freighters a week from Zaragoza airport to European countries, the American continent, the Middle East and Asia.
The expansion project includes the construction of a new robotized silo, an auxiliary services building for the reception and processing of goods, and the creation of an area for truck parking.
The project also includes the connection of the new buildings with the plot located at Plataforma Europa’s main distribution center, by means of walkways that allow both goods and passenger traffic.
It uses the latest technology for efficient hanging garment storage, as the new silo will have a greater storage capacity in relation to its surface area compared to the 2017 silo technology.
The Zaragoza logistics platform works primarily with Zara Mujer garments, which it distributes to stores around the world. The company’s commitment shown by the CEO, Óscar García, is to maintain and even increase its commitment both logistically and commercially. The latter will result in the opening of a new store, the third flagship store in Europe, which will open its doors on Paseo de Independencia, 10 in 2024. It will join the 22 stores that Inditex currently has open in Aragon, mainly in the capital of Zaragoza.
Trajectory
2001
Inditex’s plans to create Zara’s first logistics center outside Galicia in Zaragoza are publicly announced. This platform would become the first major investment made in the PLAZA logistics and business park.
2003
Plataforma Europa is inaugurated, a 120,000 square meter warehouse with 350 employees dedicated to the reception, storage, classification and dispatch of Zara garments.
2010
The first major expansion is completed. The size of the logistics center increases to 180,000 square meters and the workforce reaches 750 people.
2017
A new expansion enables the creation of the first automated hanging garment silo. The average workforce reaches 1,700 people.
2022
Generation of quality employment, with an average workforce of 2,000 people, mostly permanent (+85%).
Economic impact on the surrounding area; indirect employment associated with the activity of the Europe Platform of between 6,000 and 7,000 people in Aragon.
