Amazon on the lookout for land in Malaga for new logistics centre

American retail and distribution giant Amazon has its sights set on southern Spain, according to business sources contacted by SUR in response to a story run by ABC claiming that the company were looking at sites around Malaga, Seville and Jaén to locate a new large logistics centre.

It is understood that the preferred location is Malaga due to its proximity to the major towns on the Costa del Sol, as well as the Guadalhorce valley area.

They are actively looking in Malaga, said José Félix Pérez-Peña, director at the Aguirre Newman consultancy firm in Malaga. They need to be close to the biggest towns and cities so that they deliver within 24 hours - a major challenge in the world of logistics. While he recognises that there is plenty of industrial land available in the Antequera area, he says the large companies want to be close to the coast.

One of the issues this raises is the lack of land available earmarked for industrial use on the Costa del Sol. If Amazon intends to build a centre at least as big as the one recently built in Seville, which occupies 10,000 square metres and employs 80 people, costs would be very high, bearing in mind much of the available land is on flood plains.