ONLINE megastore Amazon is about to open a new logistics centre in the Greater Madrid region which will create 500 permanent jobs.
The hub will be up and running in Getafe by the autumn at the latest, and the entire complex will be around the size of seven football pitches, the company reveals.
With a delivery centre in Getafe, Amazon Spain will be able to supply the whole of Europe, which will involve increasing staff numbers in the country by 50%, from the existing 1,000 to 1,500.
It will mainly be attending to small and medium-sized businesses which trade via the global internet store Amazon Marketplace – a set-up which has enabled even single-branch family-run outfits and sole traders to go international and export their wares without the prohibitive expenses this would normally involve.
Amazon, which started out life as a web-based book, CD and video shop and now sells literally everything including food, clothing, electronics and household products, has been keen to invest in Spain and its network of support centres and delivery hubs in the country is growing rapidly.
By next year, Amazon hopes to have opened another logistics centre in Paterna (Valencia province) and in Illescas (Toledo province), helping to decentralise operations and provide jobs outside Spain's largest cities.
Before then, two other delivery headquarters will open before 2017 is out in El Prat and Martorell, both in the province of Barcelona.
Amazon first moved into Spain in 2012 when it opened its corporate offices, and this was followed up recently by a 'Tech Hub' in Madrid to provide support to Amazon Business traders across southern Europe, including developing new services for its five continental European websites – France, Italy, Germany, Spain and The Netherlands.
It has since created a logistics centre in San Fernando de Henares (Madrid), an 'Amazon Pantry' centre for home food deliveries, in Castellbisbal (Barcelona province), and two other city-centre delivery hubs in Madrid and Barcelona to enable it to offer same-day and next-day delivery to Amazon Prime and Amazon Prime Now customers.
The firm announced in March that a new Seller Support Hub in Barcelona would provide 500 new jobs between now and 2019, and would serve all Amazon Marketplace vendors based in Spain, France and Italy.
By the end of this year, the store expects to have 1,600 people on its permanent payroll.
Photograph of new logistics centre in Getafe due to open this autumn, taken by Amazon
