TEN STRENGTHS

Zaragoza, a metropolitan city

Zaragoza is the capital of the Aragon Autonomous Community with one of its major strategic commitments being logistics. Its population is 700,000, and it has outstanding research and training centres, two universities and intense cultural activity. It is also an active commercial hub in its entire area of influence, which extends throughout the Ebro valley.

Its historical importance and cultural life make Zaragoza a centre of social and economic activity, in line with the main medium-sized cities in Europe.

Central location

Zaragoza is in the centre of six south-east Europe reference cities: Bordeaux, Toulouse, Bilbao, Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona). These metropolitan areas have a large, concentrated population, with intense activity and a high level of consumption.

Within a radius of 300km from Zaragoza centre lives a population of 25 million inhabitants. The city lies on an intersection of the main routes and traffic in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, which also connect with the rest of Europe.

It is an ideal location as a transport and distribution centre, regarding road, rail and air, with travel routes in very competitive conditions.

By plane, Zaragoza has quick connections with the main European capitals (Paris, Lyon, Milan, Rome, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Brussels). It has the second highest airport cargo in Spain and has regular direct flights to Asia.

Intersection point in Peninsula land communication networks

The Aragonese capital connects directly with the centre and north of Europe, the Central Pyrenees and the Mediterranean southeast, so its road network offers reliable, consolidated transportation guarantees.

Zaragoza connects the Ebro Valley with both the Mediterranean coast (Catalonia, Levante and Murcia) and Atlantic coast (Basque Country, Cantabria).

The Somport-Sagunto motorway and the future trans-Pyrenean railway will make these links even stronger.

Zaragoza: a logistics city

Zaragoza has a solid reputation as a place for research, training and knowledge exchange in the theoretical and practical field of advanced logistics. This is all part of the global commitment of the entire Autonomous Community represented by the Aragon Logistics Platforms (www.aragonplataformalogistica.es).

Regulated education at the University, postgraduate and doctoral courses, masters, seminars, congresses, conferences, top-level international forums and specialised competitions make up an intense and varied set of scientific, educational, professional and business activities dedicated to logistics and to making the Aragonese capital a place to develop and prosper.

Special mention must be made of the Zaragoza Logistics Centre (ZLC), the intermodal centre for logistics training and research. This centre in the Aragonese capital has provided the International Logistics Programme, promoted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Centre for Transportation and Logistics since 2003, among other activities.

In addition, related public research centres, like the Aragón Technological Institute, make daily progress in improvements applied to the logistics and transport sector, especially in the area of Big Data.

Transport infrastructure in continuous improvement

Zaragoza has good inter-city transport infrastructure, with direct connections to all the surrounding economic centres and the transport corridors of its surroundings. The capacity and functionality of these infrastructures is under constant improvement, to adapt to the new needs and singular advances of the massive distribution.

Meanwhile, in the city, the bicycle and public transport, like the tram, are gaining ground on the traditional use of the car.

A new generation logistics platform

The Zaragoza Logistics Platform is an Intermodal Transport Centre offering state-of-the-art services.

Plots of land, excellent quality warehouses and a wide range of services connect the Platform to the airport at kilometre zero (where it flies to several continents), a railway terminal and the link with several national main motorways and toll roads.

Plaza as a dry port

Plaza is located at an equidistant point from the main Spanish ports of the Levante (Barcelona, Tarragona and Valencia) and Cantabria (Santander, Bilbao and Pasajes), which makes it the ideal location for a dry port.

The Platform Terminal currently has 25 rail connections with the Ports of Barcelona, Bilbao, Tarragona and Valencia.

Integration centre for logistics operators

Logistics operators need intermodal logistics platforms that facilitate the integration of products, geographic integration and the search for economies of scale; thus obtaining synergies in their logistics chain and quality final customer service. The Zaragoza Platform offers the opportunity to reconcile all these aspects with excellence.

Plaza functionality and efficiency

The Zaragoza Logistics Platform is designed to provide the highest levels of functionality and efficiency for distribution chains, logistics operators and transport companies.

Thus, it has designed the following over its 13 million square metres to have the most modern logistics and intermodal transport complex in Spain:

• Dedicated electrical substation with double power line.
• Water purification system exclusively for the companies on site.
• Double sewer system for rainwater and sanitary water.
• Rainwater pipeline to the Ebro river with an evacuation capacity of 30,000 L/s.
• Triple independent communications network.
• Individual drinking and industrial water supply.
• Gas supply.
• Green areas and sports areas (240 hectares).

Maximum reliability and public support

Plaza is a 100% public company of the Aragon Government that enjoys unquestionable institutional support. It is a strategic commitment from the regional government and has been equipped with infrastructure and equipment of the highest technology and resources to provide operators with maximum flexibility and versatility.