Hereu participates in the laying of the foundation stone of the Stellantis gigafactory in Figueruelas, a strategic project for Spain's leadership in electric mobility

The Minister for Industry and Tourism, Jordi Hereu, participates in the ceremony for laying the first stone of the Contemporary Star Energy gigafactory

The Minister for Industry and Tourism, Jordi Hereu, took part in the ceremony to lay the foundation stone of the Contemporary Star Energy gigafactory, the Stellantis-CATL joint venture in Figueruelas (Zaragoza), a strategic project for Spain that will have a direct impact on the economy of Aragon and on the battery market in Spain and Europe.

Minister Hereu highlighted the fact that the Stellantis-CATL project is investing 4.1 billion euros in a project that will have the capacity to produce material for around one million vehicles per year. He also stressed that the fact that the plant will operate with 80% of its energy consumption coming from renewable energies is a demonstration of how sustainability is not incompatible with performance, quite the contrary.

Similarly, the Minister for Industry highlighted the Government of Spain's firm and decisive support for the transition to electric mobility. In the Stellantis Figueruelas plant, the Ministry of Industry and Tourism has invested almost 380 million euros through the PERTE for Electric and Connected Vehicles and Industrial Decarbonisation, 270 million of which corresponds to the Stellantis gigafactory. In total, including its plants in Vigo and Madrid, Stellantis has so far received 438 million euros from the Ministry of Industry.

Jordi Hereu reiterated that the Government's commitment to the transformation of the sector does not stop here. Through the Ministry of Industry and Tourism, more than 2.5 billion euros has already been injected to boost the automotive sector and the transition to electric vehicles, an unprecedented investment in the industrial history of our country that is already bearing fruit: electric vehicles (pure electric and plug-in hybrids) added nearly 24,000 new registrations in Spain last October; and accumulated sales of electrified vehicles exceed 180,000 units so far this year, which represents a fifth of total sales.

The Minister for Industry also referred to future foreign investment, which the Government is currently working on. In this respect, Jordi Hereu underlined the role that the Strategic Investment Committee, approved yesterday in the Council of Ministers, will play.

This Committee, in which up to 13 ministries will be represented, will allow the construction - hand in hand with all the actors in the sector - of a methodology that will shape a comprehensive strategy to facilitate the attraction and consolidation of national and foreign investment in key sectors of activity.

The Minister for Industry has stressed that a fundamental aspect of this strategy will focus on employment, both in its generation and in the improvement of working conditions for all workers, present and future. Minister Hereu wanted to expressly address these workers to assure them of the Government's commitment to them.

Non official translation