ALIBABA choose instead of Madrid Catalunya to install its logistics hub for southern Europe.

Sometimes the news takes 4 years to prove me right, but I said in 2013, in this post , which could be installed in Catalunya ALIBABA.

The Chinese e-commerce giant compared to AMAZON (although Chinese has 20 times more benefits than the North American ...), is studying to install its logistics hub in southern Europe. The Generalitat de Catalunya, through Acció, which last year managed to raise 352 million euros in foreign investment projects, negotiates with ALIBABA GROUP an operation that, if confirmed, would make Catalonia a key enclave for companies in the area Mediterranean market that they trade through their e-commerce platform.

Catalan government sources acknowledge that the negotiations are in the final phase after meeting for the first time with directors of the Chinese company in February, coinciding with the Catalan business mission to Hong Kong and, in this sense, the good communications of Barcelona with The rest of Europe, the country's long tradition of logistics and the consolidation of Catalonia as a global reference for e-commerce are important factors in making the final decision.

Alibaba last year launched three global logistics centers in Hong Kong, Sydney and Melbourne. These three centers provide companies with inventory management and shipping services, and this could be the model Alibaba would implement in its logistics hub in Catalonia. It should be noted that, after the Chinese, Spaniards are the second buyers of the world through the ALIEXPRESS service.

The e-commerce boom largely fueled the logistics sector in Catalonia until the end of 2016 with a new recruitment record of 773,000 square meters, according to data from the CBRE consulting firm. This is the second consecutive year in which logistic contracting figures in the Catalan market have been met, an increase of 45% compared to the figures recorded in 2015. Today, construction of 234,000 m2 of logistics is underway The demarcation of Barcelona.