A total of 17 companies have submitted applications to occupy the spaces that Nissan will leave free once its industrial activity in Catalonia closes. In the absence of thirteen days to the end of the period for submitting offers, there is no battery manufacturer among them, although they have shown their interest and still have time to do so. The size of the projects varies. The smallest project of those presented would create 120 jobs and the largest, around 2,000. And in some cases they can become compatible with each other.
The first phase of Nissan’s reindustrialization comes to an end. The management of the Japanese automobile group in Spain, the administrations and the unions have met again this Thursday at the work table with KPMG, the consultancy in charge of ordering the processing of offers. From that meeting, some 37 business groups have shown interest in one of the three centers —Zona Franca de Barcelona, Montcada i Reixac and Sant Andreu de la Barca— now occupied by the car manufacturer, although only 17 have presented a letter of intent, which implies a further degree of commitment and being able to receive the sales notebook prepared by Nissan and the administrations.
In this group with more advanced relationships, there is still no manufacturer specialized in batteries, although it was one of the Administration’s preferred bets and in recent weeks there have been announcements from the central government to create a public-private consortium to manage a such facility. Having such a factory nearby is a condition for Seat to manufacture an electric vehicle in Martorell this five years, although there is regional – and international – competition to end up hosting it. The administrations have defended that they expect the number of proposals to grow before March 31.
In any case, among the 17 strongest candidates there are different types of approaches, although those for the manufacture and assembly of electric or hydrogen-powered vehicles predominate. And others, such as logistics and construction. The employment band to be generated, one of the issues that will be taken into account when awarding the land to an industrial project, varies. It ranges from the 120 workers that the smallest construction project will require to the 2,000 jobs that the largest undertakes to create. There are several that are over 1,500 workers. The Nissan closure will affect 2,500 workers.
Accelerated calendar
After the meeting, the unions have highlighted that, for the moment, there are “intentions rather than realities”, which is why they demand the elaboration of a concrete roadmap. The agreed approach is based on the selection of projects before May 31 so that before the summer holidays (July 15) binding offers can be submitted and in September the employment outlook for the current Nissan workforce is clarified.
On the other hand, Acciona has reached an agreement with the unions to relocate a minimum of between 80 and 100 workers of the half thousand that its subsidiary Facilities Services had at the Nissan plant in Barcelona. The dismissed employees will also receive a linear amount of 2,200 euros. The agreement rendered senseless the judicial hearing that had to be held this Thursday in the social chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia.
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