The Government is open to another industrial partner as an alternative to the closure of Nissan
The Government is working on alternative projects to the closure of the Nissan plant in Barcelona, including one of micro mobility, with or without the Japanese manufacturer, with the aim of being able to save "as many as possible" of jobs, said the Minister of Industria, Reyes Maroto, in an interview with Efe.
Nissan announced this Thursday its decision to close its centers in Barcelona -Zona Franca (van factory), Montcada i Reixac (axles) and Sant Andreu de la Barca (suspensions and racks) with some 3,000 employees- and assured that there were "no viable future solution "to keep them open.
"The dialogue with Nissan is still open. We present an incentive plan to guarantee the viability of the plant that is still on the table," added the minister, who pointed out that if the Japanese company rejects the project, they will seek " another industrial partner "to move it forward.
After the announcement of closure, the Government has proposed to the Japanese brand to create a working group to analyze the situation and, "if they do not finally change their minds", address "alternative scenarios" for the facilities, which are "in an ecosystem of mobility with many strengths. "
"Catalonia and the Free Trade Zone have many strengths to reorient Nissan's industrial project, which was obsolete and had to be modernized," according to Maroto, who recalled that while the closure will cost more than 1,000 million, 400 million could be carried forward an industrial plan with a new "modern" vehicle that would allow maintaining productive capacities.
"We can do it with Nissan or, where appropriate, find another industrial partner," said Maroto, who has advanced that next week they will meet with representatives of the Generalitat, the Barcelona City Council and the Free Zone Consortium to study the situation.
A "VERY IMPORTANT" MICROMOVILITY PROJECT
The first option will be to try to reverse Nissan's decision, but there is also "the development of alternative projects" on the table, among which one "very important" micromobility has stood out, such as "carsharing".
"Barcelona and the metropolitan area can be a good testing ground for an ambitious micro-mobility project to be developed with the Free Trade Zone as part of it," said the minister, who recalled that within the partners of the Catalan automotive cluster there are companies like Seat and Ficosa.
"I think there are good 'partners' (partners) and it is about looking for projects that we can jointly finance public administrations and the private sector," said Maroto, who has advocated giving the appropriate signals for investment to go Spain and not to other countries.
"EVERY JOB WE SAVE WILL BE A SUCCESS", SAYS THE MINISTER
As for the jobs that could be saved by the alternative project being considered for Nissan Barcelona, Maroto stressed that it would be "very hasty" to speak now of figures, to which he added that "the will of the Government has always been to maintain capacities productive and all employment. "
"Of course, every job we save will be a success and if we manage to save all of them, it will really be the cherry on the cake. The important thing is to save as many jobs as possible," he said.
Fulfilling the worst omens, Nissan announced on Thursday its intention to close the three centers in Barcelona at the end of December this year, leaving 3,200 direct workers unemployed and threatening 20,000 more.
