The Nissan reindustrialization table yesterday supported the plan of the real estate logistics company Goodman and the decarbonization hub, thus clearing the way for the space to be definitively awarded in January by the Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona (CZF). . It was the last meeting in which Raül Blanco participated, until yesterday General Secretary for Industry and SMEs of the Ministry of Industry, who expressed his satisfaction for "having contributed to reindustrialization after the departure of Nissan".
Blanco also celebrated the “consensus achieved between the administrations, the unions and Nissan itself in a process full of complexities”. He recalled, in this regard, that he has been involved in all the solutions that have appeared, some of which have fallen by the wayside, such as that of the Chinese GWM or that of the armored vehicle maintenance center in the Free Zone.
Yesterday, the board gave the go-ahead to the due diligence (in-depth external audit) and the guarantees that Goodman has presented, one of the last procedures to be awarded the CZF tender. The project had to be reviewed at the last minute because the hub, led by QEV and BTech, did not get enough guarantees to be able to fully receive the 108 million euros of aid (most of it subsidies) that had been assigned to them in Perte of the electric vehicle. In the end, it will be 65 million, including the projects of the 14 partners that accompany QEV and BTech.
The hub, which is relying on funding from Goodman to kick-start manufacturing at the former Nissan space, expects to be able to hire some 650 former Nissan workers next year, about half of those awaiting redeployment. The rest would join in 2024, although the promoters of the hub have offered various measures to mitigate the impact of the termination of unemployment benefits on a significant part of the workers. According to sources close to the hub, there is a willingness to hire more staff than what production needs require, even if it is with reduced hours, and for this the group is willing to invest 7 million euros.
The decision by the CZF will take place foreseeably in the second week of January. Goodman, who competes with an agreement with the hub, is the only candidate who chooses to be awarded the space.
