Lidl already has very advanced construction works for its second logistics center in the Barcelona area. It is a complex of 66,000 square meters and 144 loading docks located in the municipality of Martorell (Baix Llobregat) and to which it will allocate an investment of 140 million euros. The project dates back a long time, as the German distribution chain announced it in 2017, after failing to unblock the expansion it planned to carry out of the logistics platform it owns in Montcada i Reixac, where its corporate headquarters for the Spanish market is also located.
According to Lidl, this investment of 140 million in Martorell is the largest it has made in logistics since it arrived in Spain 30 years ago. The new warehouse is expected to be one of the group's largest in Europe and to become operational throughout 2025. The chain highlights that the center will be complementary to that of Montcada and will allow "to decisively accompany and intensify the development of its business in the northeast of Spain."
This investment in Martorell is not the only one Lidl will make in Catalonia, as in July 2022 it also announced the construction of a logistics center in Constantí (Tarragonès) which it plans to inaugurate in 2026, although, this same year, a provisional warehouse will become operational in this municipality. In Constantí, Lidl has bought a plot of 185,000 square meters, an even larger area than the one it acquired in 2017 in Martorell, of 126,000 square meters.
In parallel, to face its ambitious expansion and growth plan, Lidl also plans to build new logistics platforms in Parla (Madrid) and Villadangos del Páramo (León). All of them will join the warehouse recently inaugurated in Escúzar (Granada) which has raised to twelve the number of logistics centers the chain currently has in operation in Spain. These platforms supply a network of more than 670 stores that employ some 18,500 people.
In Catalonia, the first market where it arrived, the German brand has more than 120 establishments. Its workforce in the community exceeds 4,000 people and, according to a PwC study, the economic impact of the chain in the territory is around 1,300 million euros annually contributed to the GDP, a figure equivalent to 0.55% of the total regional. If direct, indirect and induced jobs are added, the employment generated amounts to 26,000 people. Finally, Lidl estimates the value of annual purchases made from 180 suppliers located in Catalonia at 820 million.