Government of Spain expresses full support for SEAT at event to celebrate 70th anniversary of company, presided over by King Felipe VI in Martorell

During his visit, Pedro Sánchez went round different parts of the installations, such as the design centre and the production areas, where the smart installations are located, and exchanged impressions with workers and trade union representatives. Both King Felipe and the President of the Government signed the company's visitor book.

For their part, the top executives of SEAT and the Volkswagen Group reiterated their commitment to invest 5 billion euros in Spain from now until 2025 and announced their intention to produce electric cars in Martorell. They also expressed their intention of collaborating in the transformation of the automotive industry and the ecosystem for electric mobility and to collaborate with the economic recovery of the country.

Automotive sector to play leading role in first PERTE under Recovery Plan

The visit by the President of the Government to the SEAT industrial complex in Martorell took place hours after the Minister for Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, announced the creation by the government of a large public-private consortium with Volkswagen, Iberdrola and other partners that wish to sign up to it, to start up the first electric car battery plant in Spain.

This consortium is a key element in Spain's strategic commitment to developing electric vehicles in the country, the main figure in the first PERTE - Strategic Project for the Economic Recovery and Transformation. In order to protect the value chain of the automotive industry, guarantee its recovery in the wake of the pandemic and ensure its competitiveness through decarbonisation, sustainable mobility and digitalisation, the automotive sector has explicit public support through the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan. The aim is to fulfil the comprehensive rollout of electric vehicles in Spain, take a qualitative leap in the mobility sector and provide the right framework for quality job creation in a country with a high automotive capacity.

The automotive sector in Spain accounts for 10% of GDP and has major knock-on effects - each euro invoiced by vehicle manufacturers contributes 1.65 euros in the rest of the Spanish economy. It also creates quality jobs - 84% of workers have a permanent employment contract and it helps structure the Spanish territory with factories in 10 autonomous regions.

Non official translation