Maersk, a global leader in sea freight, plans to start operations in Zaragoza in 2024 by occupying a 42,000 square meter site within Mercazaragoza. This project represents an investment exceeding 20 million euros aimed at strengthening the company’s logistics footprint across Zaragoza and the broader Aragon region.
During a municipal meeting, Zaragoza’s mayor, Jorge Azcón, confirmed that Mercazaragoza’s board of directors, in which the city council holds a 51 percent stake, approved the land concession to Maersk Logistics & Services Spain, a subsidiary of the Danish multinational. Reports from El Periódico de Aragón, part of the Prensa Ibérica group, indicate that Maersk will utilize 26,278 square meters under a land enlargement regime. This framework allows access to land in exchange for an annual canon payment, creating a flexible path for expansion.
The concession process began in late October 2021, when Mercazaragoza initiated a selection for a 48,000 square meter usable area in the enclosure’s northern sector, where the most recent expansion took place. After the grant of 42,000 square meters, Mercazaragoza hit a key land allocation milestone and the regional government is already weighing future expansion options.
The Maersk project ties into the Zaragoza Marine Terminal TMZ, the dry port that underpins Aragon’s agri-food export corridor and its rail connections. Azcón stated that Maersk’s presence will establish Aragon as a benchmark for logistics excellence and will integrate the Mercazaragoza agri-food platform into the regional supply chain.
As the project advances, rail traffic at the sea terminal is expected to increase substantially. Maersk is projected to help double the current train departures from the terminal, accelerating the movement of goods through the multimodal network. The region already handles a large share of international maritime traffic, with thousands of businesses engaging in cross-border trade. When fully operational in 2024, Maersk’s activities should push the annual shipment total beyond 8,000. Azcón emphasized that the Maersk project could raise regional traffic levels by roughly 30 percent in the coming years.
Maersk has maintained a presence in Mercazaragoza for more than ten years. APM Terminals holds a 45 percent stake in Depot TMZ Services, the entity responsible for managing the Zaragoza Marine Terminal, with other partners including a Chinese group and additional collaborators. The remaining shares are held by Hutchinson Harbor and TMZ itself. The forthcoming facility will house both cold storage and dry warehousing spaces, equipped with large freezing rooms, advanced cooling systems, and an integrated technology platform designed to provide tight control over products handled in the warehouse. This modernization is set to support the agri-food sector by boosting overall logistics capacity.
Construction of the new warehouse is planned for 2023, coinciding with the TMZ expansion. The expansion will enable trains of up to 750 meters in length to be received, a substantial increase from the current capacity of just over 200 meters. A new northern connection on the Zaragoza-Huesca line will be created as part of the project. The total investment for the expansion is estimated at 10.5 million euros.