According to Sapo, Mercadona will invest 225 million euros in the construction of the Almeirim logistics centre to support the expansion plan in the country. Scheduled to open in 2024, the centre will create 500 new jobs by the end of 2024 having already started recruiting.


The company has acquired a plot of 440,000 m2 that will have a total construction area of about 120,000 m2, with a warehouse of 47,000 m2, another warehouse with 50,000 m2 and buildings for general services and offices – the logistics block is the "most relevant investment" of the Spanish supermarket chain in Portugal, according to Carlos Lopes, the Marketing logistics director.


With 39 stores in the districts of Porto, Braga, Aveiro, Viana do Castelo, Setúbal, Santarém, Viseu, Leiria and Lisbon, the chain has already invested 84.5 million euros in the logistics block of Póvoa de Varzim, the first to be built, supporting the expansion of a chain of stores to the North. Currently with an area of 100,000 m2, the block employs more than 350 employees.


This year, the chain plans to open ten more supermarkets, bringing the number of stores in Portugal to 49, which will have the logistical support of the Almeirim block.

Currently, there are more than 25 Portuguese suppliers who employ more than 180 people during the construction phase, many of them from the Santarém district, the company said. By the end of 2024, when it is set to operate, it will create 500 new jobs.


"It is very important to bet in the interior of the country, and Ribatejo, especially Almeirim, has a very important location in logistics terms and logistics is the backbone in the operation of the economy. The logistics blocks have a very important role and Mercadona makes an investment of 225 million euros here, has expanded significantly in our country and will continue," said António Costa Silva, Minister of the Economy and the Sea, who was present at the start of the construction of the block.